Forget-Me-Notebook
by RunwithscissorsXXXbattlescars
Summary: In the absence of the Keroro Platoon, Keron sends a new promising platoon—led by former space pirate Zurere—to invade Pekopon. Just one problem—their ship crashes and all five of the frogs are quickly discovered by Pekoponian kids. Soon, plans turn around as they unravel the whereabouts of the Keroro Platoon… and realize all too late what everything means. –set in the future–
1. Final Resonation

**So as promised, the first prologue chapter. (There are two of them.)**

**It may just be too random. I really need to write more.**

**Anyway. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The great and mighty Sergeant Keroro stood before him, casting a shadow over the land.

"How?" asked the Pekoponian Fuyuki, with tears in his eyes. "How did you…?"

"Invade the planet at last?" Keroro gave a froggish laugh. "Gero gero gero! Fuyuki, you underestimate me."

Fuyuki turned his head at the ground, becoming swallowed in a locked trance of hopelessness.

"And now… without further ado… I shall release my battle drones upon the planet and obliterate it, once and for all!"

The boy's eyes were still at the ground. Still unmoving. And suddenly, a response—a single, resolute syllable—

"No."

Fuyuki stood up before him, put his hands on his hips, and shook his head, adamant and strong.

"I won't let you, Sarge. Pekopon is our planet. It's our home." He clenched his fist with such a determined air that it could make a Keronian soldier have second thoughts. "And if you think for even a second that I will give that up, even after you've taken away everything from me… then you're _wrong_!"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you…." Keroro's eyes narrowed as he grinned and rubbed his chin.

"What do you…?"

"Turn, Fuyuki! See what Pekopon has become now in your midst."

Fuyuki turned around to see his messy room.

"_NO!_" He fell to his knees. "It… it can't be…. I won't believe it…."

"That's right… there's no turning back…."

"Yes… yes there is…!" Fuyuki stood back up. "There's still time! I can still save the planet…. I _will_ stop you!"

"Oh, I don't think so. Gero gero gero!" Keroro thrust his hand forward. "Bow to me, fool!" Lasers shot from his eyes.

"No way!" Fuyuki unsheathed a sword and shield.

"Oh yes you are!"

"Oh no I'm not!"

"Arrrrg!"

"Arrrrg!"

They both charged at each other, and Keroro pushed Fuyuki to the ground. Bursts of light escaped from them as they battled and encircling one another. Keroro ignited his rocket boots and zoomed off into the sky, but Fuyuki grabbed him by the leg and dragged him back down to earth.

"You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you."

Keroro grinned. "You're beginning to sound like your sister, Fuyuki. The one that I happened to"—He brushed his fingers idly on his chest and slipped him a devilish smile.—"feed to the carnivorous slugs?"

Although phased for a moment, Fuyuki became even more enraged and super-powered after hearing this. He charged at Keroro again and looked him in the eye with his cold, blue eyes that sought vengeance.

They dropped their imaginary weapons and started laughing.

"That was too fun!"

"Yes indeed it was, Fuyuki-dono!"

"Carnivorous slugs…. Ahahaha!"

"We should play Pretend Invader more often."

"Pphfft… yeah!"

After laughing a little while longer, they caught their breath and let out a contented sigh.

Fuyuki sat back up and leaned against his bed, while Keroro remained lying on his side on the ground.

"Yeesh… you really gotta clean your room, Fuyuki-dono." He seemed to be rolling something between his fingers, which he flicked away in disgust.

"Not right now. Maybe tomorrow."

"Natsumi-dono yell at you yet?"

"No… not yet…."

"You better not let her know, then."

"She says I have to do my homework first. Just another thing to put off."

"Gero! I know _that_ feeling."

There was another bit of silence between them, until Fuyuki asked:

"You're not actually going to plan on invading like _that_, are you?"

"Psh. No way, Fuyuki-dono." Keroro stood up dramatically and stuck his thumb at his chest. "When we invade, I'll be wearing a cape!"

He laughed at Keroro's imagination. "_If_ you invade."

"When!"

"_If_."

"Why… why not, Fuyuki-dono?"

"Well, the way I see it, I don't think you guys actually _want_ to invade. 'Cause if you did, wouldn't you have invaded by now?"

He thought.

"Well, Sarge? Aren't I right?"

The question was innocent and curious enough, but still way too blunt. Keroro sat down and threw himself against the edge of the bed beside Fuyuki.

"Hey… Sarge?"

"Yeah?" Keroro turned to him.

"What would happen if… if you really invaded?"

"Gero? What do you mean?"

"Well… I mean…." Fuyuki hugged his knees to his chest. "You know that I've always taken it for granted that you guys will never, and I mean _ever_—"

Keroro began to frown.

"—even come _close_ to invading this planet once and for all—"

"Hey! It could happen!" he protested.

"—but, well, have you ever actually thought about what happens _after_ that? Like… where will you go then? Will you leave Pekopon?"

Keroro genuinely looked at the boy now, since he was so in need of assurance. But Keroro, to be honest… wasn't so sure of the answer himself.

"I guess, what I'm asking, is…. Do you think, Sarge, that… we'll still be friends?"

"I… I don't know, Fuyuki-dono."

As soon as he said it, Keroro wanted to take it back. But seeing as planning ahead wasn't exactly one of his strong points, what _really_ could he say to reassure the boy?

He hadn't honestly considered it before—it was something he didn't like to think about. Because no matter how much he wanted to ignore the ugly truth, his platoon and he _weren't_ going to stay on Pekopon forever… emotional attachments or no emotional attachments. It was always a temporary thing, right from the start. Because of that, the future was a scary concept.

And, well, if they did stay on Pekopon… never invading even once… wouldn't that make them the most pathetic invasion squad in the universe.

* * *

_"No… no…! She's dead, Natsumi's dead!"_

_"It was that dream again…."_

_"But… what if it's not just a dream…."_

_"Oh, no! Look! It's a real, live alien!"_

_"WHO?! WHAT?! WHERE?!"_

_"…"_

_"How…"_

_"H-h-how did you know?!"_

* * *

And that was the day that everything had changed.

Nothing was the same anymore for the six of them. Succeeding in school and leading normal, everyday lives? Yeah, that was pretty much a thing of the past. Now there were different things to be taken care of—What is the next stupid invasion plan of theirs? When will they stop setting things on fire and building weird machines? What's going on when our house starts to split in two? When can I listen to DJ Mutsumi already? Why do they always have to get in the way of things? Why can't they just _leave us alone already_?

It wasn't fair. They never asked to be the ones to have to deal with this. And by all means, they shouldn't have.

But every single one of them knew that if not for them stopping the frogs from invading, just as much as the frogs had stopped them from leading normal, everyday lives… Pekopon might have already been invaded.

It was a bit of a sad thought. But some things could not be avoided.

_"We do have our lives to live, you know."_

_"We don't have time to mess around with aliens."_

That's what they were always telling themselves—at first. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Because the longer the platoon stayed on Earth, the further and further that end in sight seemed to extend.

It was only a couple of years until that end of sight was completely forgotten.

And it was hardly any different for the aliens themselves.

It was only supposed to be a quick invasion—just a couple of military officers on foreign land, seeking to seize some land and create yet a new nobility for their planet to proudly bolster.

But the second that the Keron army took a whiff of that dry Pekoponian atmosphere, dropped that platoon off, and fled with their tails between their legs, the fate of the Keroro Platoon had already been set.

The longer they stayed, the worse it got.

Friendships were made. Emotional bonds tethered them to the Pekoponian ground. Before long, nobody really started to take that invasion mission of theirs really seriously—because if they did, who was to know if someday, they might actually succeed? All relationships would then have to be forgotten if Earth were added onto the list of Keron's conquered territories.

No, it was all just child's play…. Something they made up to keep them busy, to keep them from thinking about the truth, the reason for their presence on Earth, and the impending date when they would actually have to get serious and destroy everything that they had come to love on that planet.

The Sergeant's incompetence? If Keron only _knew_.

They had no idea what they were getting into—and what they could no longer escape from.

And now, they were cornered against a wall.

* * *

In a dark room, five figures stood with solemn faces. Confetti and banners were strung everywhere.

He set his glass down. "Now that we're all done partying…."

"The only one who was partying was you, Keroro."

"I helped!" someone put in.

"Um…."

"Well…" Keroro said, "I… just wanted… to make this one last Invasion Meeting fun, you know?"

They all looked down.

"There's nothing fun about this."

Someone cleared his throat.

Keroro took a breath. There would be no more dilly-dallying now; it was time to do what he had gathered them all for—the news that they all dreaded to hear.

"Now, Platoon." He put his hand out at them and dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief. "I know you're all eager to hear the wonderful news…. But I deliver it with a heavy heart."

Trying to pretend like it didn't matter to them, either, the rest of them rolled their eyes.

They already knew what he was going to say.

But it still hurt to hear.

"There will be… no more invasion."

A pause.

A really long and uncomfortable one.

Then, a hesitant sigh throughout the room. Hardly one of relief. Mostly of anxiety.

"I can't believe… that it took you this long to tell us that, Keroro."

"Yeah. Ya can't say none of us were looking forward to it." Kululu lifted his elbows and tucked his hands behind his head.

"Because none of us _were_," Giroro corrected.

Dororo smiled and raised his hand. "Well, I don't mind it one b—"

"Not even you, Kululu."

"B-but I just said that _I_…"

"—Gero… I'm sorry, you guys…. But… this is the only thing that we _can_ do." Keroro balled his hand into fists. "I don't like it as much as any of you do, but… we can't go on like this… with the way things have come to be…."

They all looked at him with sincere eyes, although most of them quickly frowned.

"It took you this long to realize that only when you got affected, too."

"Oh, that's _so_ not what happened, Giroro!"

"Oh, really, now?"

They charged at each other and began to fight.

Kululu had to pull them apart. "Now, now, children. Play nicely, ku ku ku."

Giroro continued to glare at Keroro, panting still from his five-second moment of aggression, when his expression began to soften—into one of fear. Fear of the future. Fear of the frightening question that churned their insides of the rest and chilled them all to the bone—_What now?_

_Where are we supposed to go?_

He brushed himself off and folded his arms behind his back, their old leader. Now just an ex-platoon stood before him. And his eyes flitted nervously around, speaking the same question that they all were thinking.

"So… what next, Mister Sergeant? Or… I suppose I shouldn't call you that anymore…."

"Right. Keroro, _what next_?"

"Well?"

He paused. He was under all their gazes.

"I—I—"

"_Well_?"

"I… I don't know…."

They stepped back in disappointment. More sighs. More hands over faces.

"What next, Keroro. If we're not invading this planet, then what _are_ we going to do?"

"We've talked about it already, Giroro." He bit his lip slightly.

Another sigh.

There were many different answers. Many different options. So many other things to do, places to go, and sights to see.

"But… will we all ever see each other again?" Dororo worried.

"I don't know." Their ex-leader shook his head. He really didn't know.

Tears formed in the eyes of the tadpole.

"Well… platoon…." He paused and corrected himself. "Ex…platoon…"

He put his hand forward, equidistant from all others.

One by one, each put his hand on the first.

"…it looks like this is the last time… we may be all together… for a very, very long time…."

They took their hands off and proceeded to wipe their eyes, some sniffling a bit.

He looked into all of their eyes.

"Shall we resonate one last time?"

"All right."

"Gerogerogerogero…"

"Tamatamatamatama…"

"Girogirogirogiro…"

"Kurukurukurukuru…"

"Dorodorodorodoro…"

But that was such a long time ago that it can hardly be remembered.

* * *

**Sorry to disappoint. Again, power of prologue. The second half I will probably post in two days, since that's how I roll.**

***rolls away, Katamari Damacy-style***


	2. The Pekopon Protection League

**A/N The second half of the prologue. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Pekopon was just a few light-years away now.

"Senior Private!" the captain barked. "Destination secured, I presume?"

"Yes, Captain!" The Senior Private saluted him from the work her work station, a circular pad that surrounded her on a platform elevated from her captain by the cockpit. Her fingers danced rapidly across the green lights spread out before her as she made some last quick calculations. "I've just calculated this out. In just about a half an hour is when we'll be in the thermosphere of Pekopon."

"Ah. Then it appears things are going smoothly," the Combat Medic observed with a hint of a smile.

A purple-skinned Keronian let out a yawn and stretched her legs out. "Just a half an hour longer? …_Yesss_! My legs are _so_ tired!"

"Have fun stretching them all you can, because the second we land, you're gonna be up on your feet again and you're gonna have to be fast."

"I know. I can feel the excitement pumping through me!" She placed her hand in the air. "In no time at all, Pekopon will be all ours!"

"That's right." The Senior Private touched her finger to her chin. "This is your first time invading, isn't it?"

"Right! And it's so not fair," she pouted. "I should be an invader now just like the rest of you."

The Senior Private gave a small sigh and rested her elbow against her dash. "Well, at least you actually get to _be_ out there and fight…. And not be holed up in some enclosed room filled with wires and lights…."

"Senior Private, we've already discussed your duty in this platoon. I will not have any complaints from you," said their captain with an intimidating look of authority. "And _especially_ not thirty minutes before we land on the planet itself."

"R-right…." A sweat-drop slid down the side of her face.

"Well, I think it's fantastic that you're able to understand that complicated technology!" put in her gray-skinned comrade.

She forced a smile. "Thanks…."

The new recruit, the youngest one, placed her elbows on the edge of her station and looked up at her two platoon mates. "Don't you think it's weird?"

"Don't you think _what's_ weird?"

"That Pekopon's never been invaded before." She put a finger on her cheek. "I mean, yeah, it's definitely not the _biggest_ planet out there—but it's definitely one of the most diverse ones. It hasn't even been around that long, and look at how many names it's got already—Pekopon, Pokopen, _Earth_. And think about it—countless other aliens have visited the place! …And yet, not a single native Pekoponian knows about the existence of aliens."

The Senior Private gave a bit of a scoff. "I'm sure there have got to be _some_."

"They've theorized, certainly. And they've got solid evidence, yeah. Even though they don't know it." She giggled. "I guess that's another thing that makes them unique. Pekoponians are one of the stupider species!"

"New recruit!" the combat medic chastised. "Don't discriminate on Pekoponians. You've never met one before so you don't know what they're like."

"Just like how _you_ had never met a normal Keronian for years, huh, Zuriri?"

"Oh, come on, you know how to say my name—and I am _too_ a normal Keronian!"

Their captain touched his chin absentmindedly. The new recruit did have a point about the oddities of Pekopon. He pondered this, his hands back on the controls, as he gazed out toward the large, curved pane of hyperglass that displayed space. Some white plumage from his hat just barely drifted into his eyes, and he tossed it away. Spanning before him, the vast emptiness of space seemed to lead on forever, revealing only rarely a hint of a star or distant meteor. How disappointing. He would have liked to have a bit of fun and steer the ship dangerously away from it, driving his platoon into an asteroid pit and having to find away to dodge them all and just barely escape with their lives.

That was the kind of excitement he was looking for—and he was sure as hell that they wouldn't find it on Pekopon, one of the calmest planets for an alien yet. His hint of a smile twisted into a frown.

He hoped this would be quick.

And he wondered if his platoon was even ready for this—his new recruit, his bumbling tech officer, his estranged medic, and… his currently useless one. Useless but now less annoying.

"Well. Platoon. Shall we resonate?"

Hoping to reassure himself. Maybe they _could_ all work together in this….

"Very well, Captain."

With the ship set to auto-pilot for just a moment, they all abandoned their positions and stepped forward to form a circle, even the Keronian in the corner who quickly caught on to what was happening.

"Zurezurezurezure…"

"Dokidokidokidoki…"

"Xuyixuyixuyixuyi…"

"Purapurapurapura…"

The last one smiled and opened his mouth.

"LATA! LATA! LATA! LATA!"

"Zu…"

"—Ah, Captain! He's doing it wrong again!"

"Yes…. I know." Their captain put a hand over his face in exasperation. "Private First Class, you're being too loud."

"You know he's not gonna listen."

"I'll tell him," said the Senior Private. She walked over to him and quickly explained, and he seemed to understand. He became silent once again.

Everyone let out their breath.

"And I thought we would never have to hear a word from him again…."

"Ha! Yeah, you wish."

"If you really don't want to listen," the Senior Private suggested, "why don't you just turn off your ears the next time?"

"Turn off your…. What?"

"You know, so you can…. Oh, never mind."

"…Back to your work stations, platoon."

The captain put his fingers to his temples. Oh, he did wish that they could all work together, just once. But of all times that he had to be wrong about his platoon. Not _now_.

* * *

"Keep your knees up, soldiers! You're not prancing your merry way through any old park; this is a battlefield you're on! And you there!" He pointed a gun at the head of the collapsed body that was gasping for breath. "Just what do you think you're doing? If this is you on the frontlines, you would have died already!"

"B-but this training is just too hard, Commandant…" the poor person wheezed as he flopped over onto his back.

The edge of the gun, however, continued to nuzzle by his pointed, dull green ear as he waited to regain his breath.

"It's loaded this time."

"E-EH? REALLY?"

Ah, that got him up on his feet.

"Now back to your drill!" he commanded. The dull green-skinned person resumed at once.

With a satisfied air, he flipped his gun around once and it vanished into the air.

Behind him, the stone door smoothly opened and another green body stepped into the room with a very inconspicuous look in his eyes. "Fun training the recruits, Giroro?"

"Not really." Giroro let out a huff and gazed forward at them. "Training the seniors was more my forte."

"Ah, well, it's not my fault that Tamama had to take a sick day…."

"Eh, I guess you're right about that."

"I bet those seniors feel pretty lucky that they get to skip out on a day of advanced training, huh?"

He shook his head. "I wouldn't be snickering if I were you. It can't always be training for these guys. Keroro, they need actual battle experience sometime—"

"Ah, but that's not going to happen, don't you see!" Keroro interrupted. "Pekopon belongs to us now. Everyone knows that. And any planet who thinks that they can send an invasion fleet here knows that they've met their match when Commandant Natsumi-dono goes into battle with the advanced troops!"

"Yeah, but the last time that happened was _five years ago_, Keroro. An incident like the battle against the Norekians probably isn't one we're gonna see again."

"You've just gotta keep your hopes up!"

He gave him a good, nice pat on the back.

"Oh! That's right." Keroro smacked his fist into his palm. "I came here for a reason. You're needed at the Communications Center."

Giroro frowned. "Geez, again? What is it this time?"

"Not quite sure. Though I think Kululu said something about unknown spacecraft approaching Pekopon."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's too far away to identify yet. But we're pretty sure it's not Pekopon's, or one belonging to a planet Pekopon's in treaty with, because otherwise they'd have sent a greeting signal."

"Hmm… better take a look at it, then." Giroro approached the doorway and pressed a button by the handle. "Warrant Officer Shlambeg! Your are entrusted with the supervision of the recruits for the duration of my absence."

"Yes, sir!" Shlambeg saluted him.

Giroro left with Keroro through the door.

Shlambeg turned to the troops, who were now no longer running in place. He grinned.

"All right, troops, the moment you've all been waiting for! You may now all take a bre—"

Giroro opened the door again. "I should also add that we will be keeping _close watch_ on things." He shut the door, making sure to secure it so that it was locked.

Shlambeg dropped his head in disappointment, and the recruits resumed their routine.

Just outside the room, Keroro and Giroro used the floor panels in the hallway to transport themselves to the Communications Center faster, where dozens of officers of various species and color were seated at their circular work stations that surrounded them. The only one without a circular work station surrounding him was the yellow frog.

"Kululu! Status report," Keroro said.

After some quick typing across his keyboard of assorted lights, he sat back and scrolled through the screens of info before him. "Ku ku ku. The spacecraft is currently 5 billion miles from Pekopon as of now. However, its destination has definitely been confirmed to be Pekopon. Should be about half an hour till it arrives."

"A foreign body?" Giroro wondered.

"Looks like one, since it's not sending out any friendly signals. Ku ku!~"

"Any signals at all?"

"I've tried to pick up _something_," he responded. More typing. "All of _my_ signals are being intercepted somehow."

"Is it no threat, then?"

"Not at the moment, no," Kululu answered. His eyes drifted back up to the translucent screen.

"Ah! It just passed the asteroid belt!" Keroro noticed.

"Oh? It's traveling quite fast, then." Kululu gave a chuckle. "Advanced technology such as ours ain't hard to come by these days."

"Well, that's why we have you," said Giroro.

"Today, maybe. Ku ku ku."

They watched as the spacecraft zoomed closer and closer to Pekopon's orbit. Kululu's large screen slowly zoomed in to match the decreasing distance between the two.

Keroro noticed something. "That asteroid is shaped a bit like a cake…."

"You've been worrying waaay too much about Tamama today, haven't you," Giroro huffed.

"Gero! Speaking of which, Dororo and I are gonna go to Alien Street later today to find some medicine for Tamama. You wanna come with, Giroro?"

"Ah, no, actually…" Giroro rubbed the back of his neck. "Girara's got another doctor's appointment later today."

"Someone else can't take her?"

Giroro shook his head. "No."

"Ku ku ku… you know, _I_ could perform the check-up."

"Don't even _think_ about it."

"…Plus, you'd charge way more," Keroro pointed out. "Just make sure she's not gonna come down with the same thing as Tamama. Pekoponian doctors don't have any way to treat alien diseases."

"Well, that's certainly something that I'll be sure to look out for."

"Hey you two…." Kululu broke into their conversation and pointed to the spacecraft. "It's past Mars now…."

"Aren't you going to do something, Kululu?"

"Course I am. Just not yet."

"Why not—?"

"Nng!" Kululu abruptly sat up as something caught his eye.

"What is it, Kululu?"

"It disappeared…."

"Yeah, that's what it does when you don't do anything about it."

He entered some commands into the controls, and the large screen before them zoomed closer in to where the space craft had last been.

"How odd!"

Giroro touched his chin. "Looks like it really is gone…."

"How can that be?" wondered Keroro.

"I'm not quite sure." Kululu did some more typing. "But… I can't seem to detect its source… or where it went."

There was a long pause. Giroro and Keroro waited for Kululu to break the silence with some idea of his regarding what to do next.

But all Kululu did was thrust his hands up into the air.

"Well. Not my problem anymore; ku ku ku!"

"K-Kululu!" Giroro raised his fist, looking like he was going to pulverize the guy. "This could be a really big problem!"

"Sorry. You said only four hours. I've been here five. And I've already run the updates on your month's worth of defective technology." He chuckled, eyeing Giroro. "Midas' touch, as they say."

"What did you say. I heard that. _Say it one more time, why don't you._"

"Anyway." Kululu dropped himself out of the chair and put his hand out.

"Hm?"

He wiggled his fingers toward himself.

"Oh. Right." Giroro left the room to transport himself elsewhere. When he returned, he handed the check to Kululu.

"Let's see…. Hmn, looks like the amount's right. Oh, and you even added that extra bonus for distracting the space police. How generous of you, ku ku!"

Satisfied, Kululu began to walk off. He turned around and gave a salute to Giroro and Keroro. "Best be taking my leave now, y'all. See ya some other time. Ku ku ku!"

Giroro and Keroro watched mercifully as he stepped onto a circular floor panel and vanished in a vertical flash of light.

From another panel in the ceiling, a blue ninja dropped down.

"Oh! Dororo!" Keroro rushed up to him.

"Commandant! Master Sergeant!" Dororo bowed his head to both of them. "The Yamazuki AIS* project did not go so well. His anti-form has malfunctioned in the middle of the street and three Pekoponians have witnessed him. Shall I proceed with UPAE** counseling, or should we erase their memories instead?"

"Hm…." Giroro considered.

"Erase their memories!" Keroro piped up. "It was only a short encounter, right? And it should never happen again. So a bit of the old memory-erasing shouldn't harm them too much."

"Commandant?" He looked to Giroro for approval.

Giroro gave his nod. "Yes, I suppose that will have to do."

"Very well. I shall prepare them for the procedure." Dororo flitted back away into the ceiling.

In a hushed voice, Keroro turned to Giroro and asked, "Hey, wasn't AIS Koyuki-dono's job?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it was," Giroro whispered back.

"And it's it the fourth time this month that an AIS project failed?"

Giroro was about to snicker, but he lifted his fist to his lips and turned it into an awkward cough instead.

"Gero gero gero."

"Eventually she'll start taking her own tips. You'll see."

"Don't forget that the one who appointed her to that job was you, Giroro."

"Yeah… I damn well know that."

* * *

*Alien Integration into Society

**Unplanned Pekoponian-Alien Encounter

* * *

**A/N I probably need to change their titles and ranks, now that I think about it, so they're less unrealistic...**

**The "Norekians" aren't ever mentioned again, by the way. I just pulled out a random name that would do for an alien race.**


	3. Summer Camp

**A/N Been having this problem with the doc manager where, if I copy & paste a document, it won't be submitted. So I just keyboardsmash something into the pasting area and submit that, then open the document and paste in the actual chapter.**

**My bit of pointless info for you today.**

* * *

The later part of the evening approached, filling the air with that fresh scent of midsummer. The crickets started up their chirping for the day again, and in a nearby pond, clusters of frogs could be heard.

Teri was leaning against a tree. It was the middle of summer camp and he already had nothing else to do. Any task that needed to be done was being taken care of by other people. In a nearby cooking cabin, the scent of dinner wafted about and mingled with the incoming sea breeze as older high schoolers and their "junior explorer" helpers cooked away. Other kids gathered around counselors as they chatted excitedly about their day exploring.

As Teri glanced off to the side, he spotted a friend of his approaching, but he was too tired to lift up his hand and wave him down. Instead he just felt his eyes beginning to droop shut. So… hot. So… sleepy.

His eyes shot open as something large zoomed noisily through the sky.

"_AAH!_"

Teri jolted up. He whipped his head to either side of himself, then looked up at the sky, where the sound had come from. He rubbed the back of his neck. "What the _heck_ was that…?"

His friend Yaoe jogged up to him and brought himself to a stop. "Have a nightmare, Teri-kun?" he teased.

"No—did you see it?"

"See what?"

"The thing in the sky?"

"Um… what thing in the sky?"

"The one that just went past!" Teri put his hands on his hips. "You _did_ see it, didn't you, Sosuke-kun?"

"I'm Yaoe."

"Oops. Yaoe-kun. You saw it, too, right?"

"Please tell me you're not imagining things."

"I'm _not_. I really heard it. And it came from the sky."

"I… think you were just spacing out again, Teri-kun."

Teri stared at him a moment, maintaining his frown of irritation, when he grunted in defeat and slumped back against the tree.

"Figures if I _did_. Summer camp seems a lot more boring this year than it did last year, huh?"

"Yeah." Yaoe sat down next to him and plucked up some grass by his hand. "It's probably 'cause we're teenagers this time, so it's not that exciting anymore."

"Ah… you think that's it?" Teri looked at his hands and clenched those fists of thirteen years. He certainly felt a bit different. But could there really have been all that big off a change?

"Yeah, I think so. Summer camp's fun when you're a kid. But the second you hit the teens, then you just… grow out of it."

Teri glanced a bit of a ways away. "Like Merion over there?"

"Yeah! All he's been doing this whole time is _sketching_."

"Like that's any different," Teri laughed. "The guy's practically a whole year older than us, anyway."

"He is?"

"Uh-huh. Well, almost. Not like it matters."

Yaoe snickered. "I'm sure that's what you want to think."

"Hey!" Teri batted him lightly with the back of his hand.

"Okay. Well. _I'm_ gonna go wait over at the tables to eat dinner. You can come with if you want to."

"Nah, I think I'll stay here," Teri told him.

"Really? You sure?"

"Yeah." He picked up his notebook and waved it a little. "I think I'm going to write some more."

"Well, okay. Your choice." Yaoe stood up and walked off.

Teri opened the notebook and flipped to the latest page, which was a little more than halfway in. Considering it was such a thin booklet, it was almost just about finished up, too.

_Good thing I brought some more along, just in case…_ he thought.

Under the few paragraphs of text under the date "8/14," he placed his pen and continued where he last left off.

_I was talking to Yaoe-kun just now. But before that, I could have sworn I heard something in the sky. Plane maybe? I'm not sure. Yaoe-kun said I imagined it. I probably did._

He paused, thought, and then continued writing.

_I can smell dinner from inside the cabins. It's really boring having to wait, though. Already a week into this summer camping trip. I can't wait for it to end. But I can't let any of the counselors or younger kids notice. Otherwise they'd probably give us all some speech on how we have to be good role models for the younger_

"Hey, Teri-kun, whatcha writing?" chirped a voice older his shoulder.

"Augh!" Teri slapped his notebook closed and whipped around to face the girl standing behind him. He let out his breath. "Oh…. Hanayu… it's just you."

"I'm here, too," said the boy beside her.

"Oh… so both of you are here…."

Teri's eyes flitted off to the side. Searching for the butlers in the shadows. They usually popped out when you least expected it.

"Um… you two don't want to go off and play with Neroko-chan, by any chance…?"

"No." Hanayu smiled, adamant.

"We want to see what you were writing," said the boy next to her with a sly little grin.

Teri narrowed his eyes at him. "No way José, Himani."

"Then, we want to play hide-and-seek with you!" said Hanayu as she grabbed the arm of her twin. "Right, Himani?"

"Exactly as she says."

"You guys are too old for that."

"No we're not!"

"Well, there's no way you can hide from me when you're dressed like… _that_."

Himani looked over his sister's attire. "He's got a point, Hanayu."

Hanayu lifted both edges of her skirt and began to frown at her dress resembling that of a gothic lolita's.

"It could work…."

"Only if you change."

"Fine! I will." Hanayu angrily stomped off to go to her cabin and change. Himani and Teri said nothing, as they knew what to wait for. They began to hear noisy shouts of anger from the hut as the realization hit the eleven-year-old.

"Augh! I don't have any normal clothes!"

Teri let out a sigh. "You'd think she would have planned ahead this year…."

"Some people just don't change," Himani commented.

"_Tell_ me about it." Teri eyed him.

"_What_?"

"Oh, nothing." He turned away, slightly amused.

Himani wasn't paying attention anymore, the little snoop. While the younger boy's attention was focused on his twin sister who was away, Teri flipped open his notebook to continue the sentence he had been writing when the twins had cut him off.

_campers. Like I would be a good role model for them!_ Teri looked around. _Like any of us older kids here would, come to think of it. Even Yaoe and Sosuke get into trouble a lot of the time._

_Hanayu and Himani asked me to play hide-and-seek with them. At least that's something to do. Right now Hanayu's trying to find something else to change into because all she's been wearing this whole week is her complicated gothic kid dresses._ _Don't know how she's been able to survive summer camp this long. But I guess she can just always get new clothes if she runs out, since she's rich. And so she can buy stuff like that._

When he saw Hanayu approaching (now in more practical wear), Teri shut his notebook and stored it away.

"All righty, then. You two ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Hanayu gave him her best smile.

Teri turned his head to the tree and shielded his eyes to start counting, but something pushed at him.

It was Himani. "Away. I want to count this time."

"Fine, fine." Though he didn't really care, Teri reluctantly let Himani have his spot at the tree.

_Someone could at least have taught the kid to say "please,"_ thought Teri. _As in, "Please tell me I did NOT act like him two years ago…."_

As Himani started to count, an excited Hanayu sped off into the woods to seek the best hiding spot. Teri wandered off a ways, and then considered where he should hide.

_What am I even doing, thinking about this!_ he asked himself. _We're in the middle of a thick forest. It should really be easier than this._

Heading to the closest tree, Teri grabbed onto the lowest-hanging branch and lifted himself up onto it. All those after-school sports in school managed to help, after all. He brushed himself off a bit and continued on to the next branch, and the next, and so forth, until he was well a ways up the tree.

"…two… one… zero!" Himani's voice finished somewhere off in the distance.

From above him, Teri's eyes followed the boy as he searched for his sister and cousin.

Despite the factor of it being a child's game, Teri felt the smallest of excited tremors zap through him. He passed it off as just unnecessary adrenaline and tightened his hold on the thick branch beneath him, which was covered in moss, though he didn't mind. That made it all the easier to grip. And even if he did get bored of summer camp at times, he had to admit that the nature there was pretty astounding, like all the varieties of trees.

Hide-and-seek was still a kid's game. Hardly one to be enjoyed by two eleven-year-olds. But still the thought, however silly, pushed through his mind, _As long as he doesn't look up, I'll be safe_….

Teri continued to watch from above as Himani found his sister, and the two of them proceeded at once to seek out Teri. As they walked ahead, Teri felt inclined to keep watch of those two. He leaned forward a bit so he could still see them. Feeling unsteady, he moved his hand in front of him so he could lean further, when all of a sudden, he found that the moss he had placed the heel of his hand on was slippery with moisture. Teri desperately struggled against gravity, but as avoiding it was inevitable, his cheek met with the tree branch as he fell forward.

Luckily, he hadn't made a sound. Teri sat back up on the branch and breathed a sigh of relief, until he realized that something felt a bit off….

He glanced downward—so that was what it was. Something was falling through the branches… something small, thin and brown….

It hit him. _My notebook! I dropped it!_

Frightened, Teri could do nothing but watch as the booklet slipped further and further away from him. The pages, flipping about, hit wet moss and were bent more with each impact, causing Teri to wince each time he saw the poor thing get battered.

Finally, with a satisfying _thussh_, the notebook came to a halt on the ground.

Teri began to lower himself from the branch he was on. Game of hide-and-seek or no game, he had to save that notebook.

The hint of adrenaline, however, continued to pulse through him as the miniscule thought tugged at the back of his mind—_I can't let the twins spot me. I can't let the twins spot me._

Teri became quieter in his movements down the tree, completely by subconscious. Eventually he reached the last branch and swung himself down the grass. He picked up the notebook and flipped it open, carefully inspecting all the pages to make sure that no damage was done from the fall. …Well, at least the writing in it was still legible. Teri let out a sigh.

"Found him!"

"What?" Teri swerved around. As he had expected, behind him were the twins. They had spotted him standing on the grass in plain view.

Although partially disappointed, Teri gave them a smile. "Ha ha. I guess you did find me. Okay, you win!" He shut the notebook and slipped it into his back pocket. "Hey, do you smell that? Smells like they've finished dinner to me."

"Ooh." Hanayu grinned and began to wander off, until she turned around, grabbed her brother by the wrist, and dragged him off with her.

* * *

The dining tables—which were actually just wooden picnic tables with a fancy name—were separated into two groups, which were the tables under shelter, and the tables situated outside. While his two cousins chose to eat on the inside tables (and very prestige ones, at that—the glories of rich kids), it was always Teri's preference to eat outside and enjoy some of that dwindling evening sunshine, right around that hour where the sun slipped behind a few select trees and turned a whole few streaks of grass golden-yellow.

Teri sat between his two best friends, Yaoe and Sosuke, as he ate. He downed his food at a rapid pace.

"Well you're sure hungry for having done next to nothing this whole day," Sosuke commented as he eyed Teri.

His eyes still focused on his food, Teri retorted with his mouth full, "I'm a growing kid, okay!"

"Yeah, and besides, this food is _good_." Yaoe nibbled on some sort of meat. "Never tasted anything like it."

"Heard they got one of the new Junior Explorers to help them out in the kitchens," said Sosuke.

"Wait… you mean…." Yaoe looked at the piece of meat in horror. "They _chopped him into bits?_"

Sosuke laughed. "Save the horror stories for the cabins, Yaoe-kun. I _mean_"—He waved some sort of leaf in front of his friend's face then gave it a chomp.—"some kids can cook like _crazy_!"

"I wonder who it is…" wondered Teri. He bit the end of his chopstick gently, since he'd already finished his meal. He felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"Maybe that guy."

Yaoe was pointing to a small dark-haired kid that had just set a bowl of soup down at a nearby picnic table.

"I hope you enjoy the meal tonight!" the kid said as he gave a bow.

Sosuke laughed. "Aww, he's so cute."

"Hey, Teri-kun. Isn't that your sister's friend?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so, actually."

Yaoe tapped his chin. "Now, what was his name again…"

Teri shrugged. "Dunno. I'm not so good with names."

"Oh, well. You could learn a thing or two from him. _He_ seems to have been enjoying this last week."

"A bit _too_ much," Sosuke commented.

"What's wrong with that?" Teri gestured to the kid with his chopstick after he took it out of his mouth. "That was probably me four or five years ago."

"Except you had better table manners back then." Sosuke put his hand over his mouth and snickered.

"It doesn't matter because this is summer camp and you don't need table manners when there are no adults around, Yaoe-kun."

"I'm _Sosuke_."

Teri smacked his forehead with his palm. "See, I _told_ you I'm bad with names!"

"No kidding…" Sosuke muttered.

"Teri that's the fourth time you've done that today."

"It's a… phase?"

They both gave him looks.

Teri shrunk down. "Uh… sorry. Summer… heat?"

"Suuure it is."

He diverted his eyes away from them, then to the grass, and to his empty dishes. "I'd better—I'd better take these up and put them away. Want me to take your guys' too?"

"Sure." They handed their dishes to him, since they had finished, as well.

After disposing of the dishes in the wash-tub for them, Teri came back to their table and placed his chin on the back of his hands.

"So now what do we do?" asked Yaoe.

"I dunno. Be bored again."

"But… but that's _boring_."

"Yeah. That's the point."

"And what else are we gonna do?"

"Nng…."

"At least it beats being in school."

"Don't remind me…" Yaoe groaned.

Sosuke and Teri groaned, too.

"Oh… hey, you find a tutor yet, Teri-kun?" Sosuke casually asked.

"Tutor?" He blinked. "Tutor for _what_?"

"Tutor for… tutor for _school_?"

"Why would I need a tutor?"

"Maybe because, I don't know, you're failing?"

"Figures, with a train of thought like his…" Yaoe said under his breath.

"What?" Teri did not look like he believed this news. "But—but the new school year hasn't even _started_ yet!"

"Yes it has. First quarter done and you're already _failing_, Teri-kun. That's amazing."

"What? No—no, no!" Teri shook his head adamantly. "If I was _really_ failing and needed to find a tutor, then I'd have written about it in my notebook." He reached his hand in his back pocket to take it out, which he opened and began to flip through. "Here, I'll—I'll show you guys."

7/21

_Oh Teri you'd better not forget this because it's really important. You're FAILING the eight grade already and it's only been a quarter into the school year. Find a tutor and QUICK! before you get distracted this summer. You got that? You'd better!_

The edge of his mouth twitched as he read the note to himself.

"So… believe us yet?"

"But… but this can't be…."

Yaoe and Sosuke gave solemn nods.

Teri slapped his notebook down onto the picnic table. "Right. And _now_ you're going to tell me we're already a week into summer camp or something!"

"Um, _duh_?" Yaoe put his palms out at both his sides. "Where are we now?"

Teri's mouth twitched again.

"Teri-kun, you space cadet…." Sosuke just laughed.

_Summer camp's over in a week…._ All the realizations hit him at once. _Summer camp's over in a week, and after that, I'll only have one week to find a tutor! Because I'm failing school! Failing school already and I can't believe I haven't thought about it until now! And to think this was going to be just another boring summer trip…._

_Oh, geez, what am I going to do?_

* * *

-**_In which Scissors writes about summer camp, something she has never experienced before_**-

**So yes. Tell me if I'm getting anything wrong.**


	4. You'll Get Over It

**A/N: Upon revising some of my chapters, I have noticed that I tend to leave out commas quite a bit in characters' dialogue from time to time (usually only with interjections). If this was a serious story, I probably wouldn't be doing that. But, because this is a humor story, I'd like to be experimenting a bit with language use, and write dialogue or characters' thoughts to sound like if you were to hear them talking. So an occasional lack of commas in dialogue is deliberate.**

**Pointless information, yay.**

**By the way, in this chapter you will experience more pointless names. I would suggest to ignore them, because none of the characters in this chapter except Teri are really all that important. I just needed names so I made some up.**

* * *

"So, how long are you just going to pace around in circles and freak out?"

Teri frowned at Sosuke, completely unamused. He resumed his pacing and freaking out.

"Well?"

"This isn't a matter to be at all calm and composed about! If you were in this situation, you'd be freaking out too."

"Ehhh, probably. Except I would've thought about it beforehand," he pointed out.

"You don't understand!" He threw his hands up in rage. Mostly at himself. "I'm failing. Failing! We've only got two weeks until we return to school. And then, if I don't find a tutor quickly enough, I'll just go _back_ to failing!" He tore at his pink hair anxiously.

"You're worrying too much," said Sosuke. He leaned back. "It's summer. You should just relax… ease off the worry. Then you can start worrying again when we get back to school."

"I don't have _time_ to not worry!" Teri insisted.

"I'm sure you'll get over it," said Yaoe. "You'll see."

Throughout the remainder of the day, Teri did not get over it.

During the after-dinner play and song festivities that the "junior explorers" performed, Teri just continued staring out the window into the creeping darkness while everyone else enjoyed themselves.

One group of kids had just performed a stunt where they dunked one of the counselors into a tub of water. The audience burst into laughter; Teri amidst all this did not flinch at all.

Yaoe gave Teri a nudge. "You gotten over it yet?"

"No," said Teri. "How could I take my mind off it for even a second?" He crossed his arms and turned away from his friend, returning his gaze to the window. Yaoe just shrugged and continued watching the funny stunts.

Later, it was Sharing Time—the time for which everyone shared their most spectacular memories during that day or funny events that happened or some speech about the importance of friendship and teamwork.

Everyone sat on wooden logs around the campfire, and the opportunity to share passed from person to the one next to them in turn. Eventually it reached Teri.

"So, Teri," spoke one of the counselors. "Tell us about what you learned today."

Teri had still not gotten over it.

"I learned," said Teri with a grave face as he gripped his fingers against the edge of the log, "something very awful."

"And what would that be?" The counselor looked concerned.

"I don't really want to say it."

Yaoe nudged Teri and whispered, "Hey, Teri-kun, you gotten over it yet?"

Teri broke into a rage. "No, I have not gotten over it yet, Yaoe-kun! What makes you think that I would have?"

"Gotten over what?" The counselor's voice dropped to a hushed whisper. Her mind analyzed all the possibilities of this connotation. Goodness forbid it should be like last year's incident, in which one child transformed another into a friendly forest dolphin completely by accident. That child, however, was found out to be a witch, and was burned at steak. That is not a typo.

"I—I'm just doing a little badly in school, that's all." Teri rubbed his arm nervously.

So did the counselor. This child's failure in school undoubtedly meant that he was a witch as well because he did not understand regular human subjects. She turned away and began to dial for help on her phone.

But all the other children had a grin spread over their faces, as they new instantly the next thing to tease a kid about.

Teri shamefully looked off to the side, diverting his gaze from one particular blondie whom he knew would _never_ let him live this down.

"P-proceed to the next person!" His elbows resting on his knees, he cradled his chin in his hands.

"My turn? All right! Well today, I discovered that the secret to everything in the universe that can't be explained is actually…."

"OH MY GOSH LOOK AT THAT KILLER BAT IN THE SKY!" one kid shrieked.

The entire crowd of kids craned their necks upward. But he sat back down.

"Never mind, it was actually just a leaf."

Everyone groaned and they went onto the next kid.

After Sharing Time was over, camp procedure was to prepare for bed, since all the rest of the events during the day were usually done by that point, since it was too dark to see anything.

Teri had finished showering, making his bed, and sorting everything. He was now standing by the mirror, brushing his teeth half-mindedly with Yaoe by his side.

"Sooo… have you gotten over it yet?" Yaoe had to ask.

"Ro! I haf ROF gohheng ofeh ih yeh."

"Uh… what?"

Teri tossed some water into his mouth, swished, and spit it out into the sink. "I said, No! I have NOT gotten over it yet." His eyes narrowed. "This had better be the last time you ask that."

Yaoe just grinned and tilted his elbows upward, placing his clasped hands behind his head.

"Seriously, Yaoe. I'm probably gonna go to _sleep_ with this on my mind."

"You sure? You should really just let it go and enjoy the rest of summer while it's here…." He dropped to a mutter. "Well at least you're not freaking out about it anymore."

Teri's voice became quieter. "Not on the outside."

Yaoe blinked and took a few steps back.

"You'll get over it."

"I don't know why you keep saying that."

"I don't know either."

"O-oh." Teri frowned.

It was around ten PM when everyone from their unit was settled into their bunkers, one hour past the time that they were usually supposed to be asleep. But what the counselors didn't understand was that two hours before midnight was the absolute perfect time to _not_ be asleep.

Although it was nighttime, the moonlight illuminated the outside world with bluish hues; the affect of night—it appeared darker inside the cabins than it did outside, even without any sun as it was right now.

Teri sat on his bed, the bottom bunk, by the window. In his hands was a book of some sort, which he read using a small light. Some of the kids in the cabin were playing cards together. Sosuke was actually trying to sleep.

Yaoe sat up in his bed. "Hey, Teri-kun. You gotten over it yet?"

"Gotten over what?" Teri's eyes did not leave his book.

He paused, resisting the urge to snicker. Instead a smile played across his face and he reached for a flashlight. "Perfect. Then I think it's about time for our favorite part of the night…"

"Sleeping?" someone suggested.

"No."

With a flick of a switch, the flashlight turned on, casting light up onto Yaoe's face in a chilling manner.

"…_horror stories_."

Teri groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Yes!" Yaoe insisted. "You love horror stories, don't you, Teri-kun? Don't we _all_."

"Uhh, not really."

"Fine then. You get to start." Yaoe tossed him the flashlight, and Teri made a grab for it so it wouldn't fall. However, the book he was reading did, and he winced as both book and reading light clattered to the ground, causing the light to turn off.

"Wh—! Why do I have to start!"

"Because you want to the least." Yaoe put his finger up to make his point. "You should know that, if this was a horror movie, the most reluctant character would be the one to live the longest!"

"I don't even know how that works."

"And then, the most annoying person would be the first to go."

Teri grinned. "Then I suppose it's been nice knowing you, Yaoe-kun."

Yaoe frowned.

"All right then." Teri pointed the flashlight's gleam onto his face. "A long time ago, ten boys sat telling horror stories in their cabins at summer camp."

Someone nudged Yaoe in the arm. "Ooh, he's bringing it closer to home. Scary."

"They thought that at first, they would just be having a little fun, but little did they realize that the cabins of their summer camp had been built upon an _ancient_ cemetery filled with the souls of vengeful murderers… and that the ghosts of the murderers particularly liked listening to their horror stories, because they did everything that they could to make them come true.

"Which is why the counselors' suspicions began to rise when some of those ten boys began acting strangely… jittery, more easily surprised, and always as though they were afraid that they would be the next to go.

"The boys of those ten who did fall victim to the torments of the ghosts, however, usually had their souls extracted from their body, and the ghosts took their place, leading the bodies of the boys through the rest of their summer camp days like nothing had happened at all.

"Upon returning home, however, the ghosts who had possessed the bodies of the boys decided that it was time to reveal their secret. That night, when their families were sleeping peacefully, the ghosts in the bodies of the boys… _murdered them all_."

"Is that the end?" someone asked.

"Yeah."

"Wow, you're really bad at telling horror stories."

"That's why I _don't_, Iwatsura-san." Teri tossed him the flashlight, which he caught perfectly.

"All right, now I'll tell one. Hmmm… twenty some years ago, a big arc appeared in the sky all throughout the world. No one was quite sure what it was. But it blocked out the sun and terrified millions.

"Everyone gave their own theories as to what it was. Maybe it was some sort of weird eclipse. Or some government thing that the public wasn't being told about. Some said it was the work of dragons."

"I'd agree," said a Merion by the window as he sketched by moonlight.

"But _whatever_ it was, an awful thing began to happen, and cities became crushed. Military planes were taken down. Plants and animals died everywhere. A great monster had awakened."

"Suuure. That's toootally scary."

"It was huge!" Iwatsura insisted. "More huge than anything you can imagine. The world was in a complete panic! They didn't know what to do. Eventually, they decided to send someone out to slay the monster—someone who nobody particularly liked. But this man was no ordinary man. He had his own tricks up his sleeve. In an amazing act of vengeance and hunger mixed into one, the man unhinged his jaw and gobbled up the monster in one bite."

Everyone listening to the horror story did not look frightened. Just disgusted. Disgusted and confused.

"Soo… what's the scary part?" one kid asked.

Iwatsura took a pause. "When he returned home, everyone still had to deal with him. They weren't so happy when he came back alive."

"Well I'd be pretty scared too if I saw someone who had just eaten something bigger than their whole face."

"Yeah, I guess that's a thing, too."

"Okay, okay. I've got a horror story."

Iwatsura passed the flashlight onto the next kid, who placed it under his chin.

"Many, many centuries ago, in a regular house in a regular village, a family of five was murdered by some unknown force that had left no trace.

"The villagers looked for any clue they could find… until they realized that this murder was committed by what could only have been…"

The angle of the light on his face shifted slightly for effect.

"…_aliens_."

"Pshh that's just dumb."

"Yeah, aliens aren't that scary."

"You don't even know what an alien looks like."

"Probably like your _mom_."

"What! How could you say that?"

"Hey, you guys are all telling stories about stuff that happened _years_ ago," said one kid, "but what about scary stuff that's happened in the present? Like, did you hear that one of the counselors was just shipped off to a mental asylum for reporting that one of us was actually a witch?"

"Yeah right, Akuro-san. You're just making stuff up."

"I am _not!_"

"Hey," Sosuke suggested, "I know a horror story about a really big flood that almost destroyed half the world—"

"I can't believe that you would call my mom…"

"HEY!" Yaoe shouted. Everyone fell silent. "Hush it already and give me the flashlight. I've got this one."

They passed the flashlight down the distorted circle of campers to Yaoe, who grabbed it firmly and positioned it under his chin.

"Now I just want to make it quite clear—" Yaoe narrowed his eyes. "—that this story is indeed one hundred percent true."

The kid next to Teri gulped. Teri just rolled his eyes.

"Do you remember… hearing the story of the man who had his head cut off on the news?"

"Uh… no."

"Well, there's more to the story. More that"—he paused—"they kept from the ears of the public."

Yaoe talked slowly. "It began fifty years ago, in a small village near the ocean. Two twin girls, one who everyone loved because of her kindness, and one who everyone avoided because of her trickery and deviousness, lived together with their family. The evil sister one day grew so jealous of her twin that she did something awful and frightening to the village.

"That day…" said Yaoe as he took a slow breath, "the people of the village were convinced that she was an evil spirit. So after discussing what to do in secret, they broke into her house at midnight, captured the girl, and threw her into the sea to save their village from any more trouble.

"…In the morning of the next day, the other sister went down to the beach to see the body washed up."

Yaoe's hands were shaking as he held the flashlight below his chin, even though it was he who was telling the story.

"It was… the wrong one.

"The evil twin had survived when her sister had not, but everyone took her for her sister. They treated her with love. She even got her sister's fiancé. But the evil twin began getting haunted by her sister's ghost… scratching at the door of their house… calling 'let me in… let me in….' One day, her sister's fiancé happened to walk past and recognize the ghost in horror.

"He realized instantly that the twin who survived was not the right one.

"Enraged that he had been lied to, he entered the house, grabbed a knife, and cut off the head of the evil sister. He thought that would be the end. But three months later, he awoke in the middle of the night to hear something tapping against his window. A bit sleepy, he lit a light to see what it was.

"And in the window… it was none other…"

Yaoe made a scary face.

"…than the floating, _decapitated_ head of the evil twin.

"Terrified, the man did not move and inch…. He could see the head's lips moving, though no sounds were coming from it…. And finally, in a raspy voice, he heard it—

" '_It's your turn now_.' "

"The head crashed through the window, shattering all the glass! A sharp tentacle stretched out from underneath the tendons of the floating head's neck, and just as fast, the man's head fell right off his body!"

Silence in the room. Yaoe composed himself and continued.

"But the monster was not satisfied. It now desired more people to end up with its same fate, still thirsting to collect the heads of men to assure itself of its beauty…."

Yaoe lowered the flashlight onto his lap. His face was now indistinguishable from the darkness.

"I want to tell you all again. This is a true story.

"I heard from my cousin that he saw the floating head once when he was out in the forest at night with a friend. It was completely dark, so it was impossible not to see the floating, white, ghost head.

"The head had turned to him, and with a small grin on its face, it spoke the same words as last time…

" '_It's your turn now_.' "

"Then it charged at them.

"My cousin and his friend ran away from it as fast as they could. My cousin made it, luckily. …His friend was not."

With a nervous sideways glance, Yaoe almost whispered, "I don't know where the head is now…."

The flashlight flickered off. In the pitch-blackness of the cabins, everyone could hear each other's whimpers of fright.

All except Teri.

"Nice story. Good night now, everyone."

Even in the darkness, Teri could tell that Yaoe is frowning. "You mean… you're not scared?"

"Why should I be?" Teri flopped against his bed. "It's just a bunch of made-up stuff."

"How do you know that it can't happen?" Yaoe challenged.

"Because it can't." He moved his arm under the pillow so he could have more to lean his head against. "Have you ever _seen_ a real ghost before?"

"Didn't I just say that my cousin did?"

"How do you know your cousin wasn't making things up?"

Yaoe opened his mouth, about to answer, until he realized an answer would be better off not given.

Another boy spoke up. "People are always talking about ghosts. They couldn't have just all made up some story that's the same as everyone else's. How do _you_ know they're not real, Teri-san?"

"They just aren't." He sounded adamant. "It's impossible. They're just made up to scare you. Or because people wanted to blame something else for all their troubles."

"We all know that the only thing to blame here are little kids."

"Heh, yeah, maybe it was always just little kids who caused floods and monsoons and disease and death and suicides and anything else that might be bad."

They fell silent.

"Th-that's actually pretty scary…."

"You're right…."

"Let's not think about it."

"Okay."

Everyone collectively pulled their blankets up over their heads. The cabin was completely silent.

Teri shut his eyes and tried to get himself to relax… not to say that he was at all phased by Yaoe's made-up stories, certainly. He just wasn't all that sleepy. To make matters worse, he could think so much clearer now in bed.

In fact, he began to vaguely remember something previous that had been on his m—

His thoughts were cut short when he heard something crack outside.

_Is one of the younger kids up at night?_ Teri wondered. _I'd better go see why they're up…. A small night-walk might be good for me, too._

He dragged himself to a sitting position on his bed, slipped on some shoes, and left through the door, much to the perplexity of the people he shared the cabin with.

Teri flicked on a flashlight and pointed it at the ground and at the entrances of the other cabins. No one there.

He pointed it toward the trees. "All right, you. Now what do you think you're doing so late at ni—"

The flashlight dropped from his hand.

Something was moving through the trees—he could just barely make out white hair on the back of a head.

Just a head and nothing more.


	5. Ghost Girl

**A/N:** **I feel like Teri needs to slap someone with his notebook, so that this title can make sense. You know. Like the forget-me-stick in Megamind. "Biatch, Imma slap you with this flimsy spiral-bound collection of loose leaf papers!"**

* * *

Teri's voice was stuck in his throat. So was his breath.

All he could do was gape, and watch, horrified, as the floating white head continued to move until it passed out of view.

He fell to his knees and gripped his head. _No, think, Teri… there has to be come reasonable answer to this…. What you just saw was NOT a ghost!_

He was chilled to the bone.

At a mad speed, he picked up the flashlight and dashed back into the cabin, practically slamming the door behind him. All other nine people who had almost gotten to sleep turned to a panting, frightened Teri.

Yaoe could not resist. "What's wrong, Teri-kun? You look like you just saw a _ghost_."

Everyone except Teri laughed.

Teri just glared at him, set the flashlight down, and returned to his bed… where he drew the covers up to his ears and didn't speak a word the rest of the night.

All he could think about was what he had seen.

The words pounded through his brain as if in sync with his heartbeat. _Not. Ghost. Not. Ghost. Not. Ghost. Not. Ghost._

Many minutes began to pass. His eyelids were drooping shut.

_Not… ghost… not… ghost… not… ghost… not… ghost…_

* * *

Teri jolted up in bed. "Not ghost!"

Someone turned to him. "What'd you say about The Host?"

Teri just blinked.

He looked around. It was daytime, and it seemed that everybody else was already up.

He couldn't fall behind schedule. Teri stood up out of bed and went to go prepare himself for the day.

For some reason, though, he had woken up with thoughts of ghosts in his head….

Oh, thaaaat was right. That was because he _saw_ a…

Wait a second.

Teri froze as he brushed his teeth. The memory was coming back to him.

A shiver ran up his spine. The thing he saw last night in the trees. But… no, that couldn't have been a ghost, could it have been? Ghosts weren't real. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him. Or… maybe one of the younger kids were playing tricks on him.

Another chilling thought: _There's nobody here in summer camp who's got white hair…._

As he returned to the main cabins with everyone else of his age group, Teri could feel that his legs were shaking like crazy. He hoped desperately that no one would catch it. They'd tease him, no doubt. Especially after what he'd said last night.

Outside the main cabins, while Teri kept to himself, the counselors announced the itinerary for the day—a morning hike, from eight to noon, followed by swimming events by the ocean, which included teaching some kids how to actually… you know, swim. Hiking groups were generated at random. Or, based upon how nice your counselor was to have planned ahead of time what people you would stick with.

And of course, Teri's counselor, being _so_ thoughtful generous as he was, made sure that Teri would be in a group with his _darling_ younger (rich, very rich) cousins.

Teri's eyes scanned down the list of names for his hiking group to see who else he was stuck with. Yaoe R… Shiseko I… Emanon C… Neroko K… Akuro R… Sosuke O… Kuyuii L… Samyu L… Anka I… Hanayu N… Himani G… Merion H… Kohizou A… and of course, Teri H. at the bottom.

Teri frowned, despite the fright that mingled in the back of his mind. That was odd. They messed up Himani's initial. Oh well.

Just then, an idea passed through his head. A really crazy one that may or may not work, since he was so desperate to assure himself. The hiking trip could be disregarded for the time being. Instead, he needed to find that ghost and catch it…if it was even real, that was—which he highly doubted.

_I'm not sure that what I actually saw last night was a ghost,_ thought Teri. _So I suppose there's only one way to find out._

He prepared for the hike, packing everything he would need to set out and conquer this newfound, petty fear—spray paint, a large bug net, a bag, firearms… whatever he thought was necessary. His backpack for the hike proved to be larger than it should have been. He also brought his notebook, of course. Couldn't go without that.

He knew it was absurd to think that he might be able to catch a ghost in broad daylight. But some of the forests just at the edge of the hiking path they were taking were particularly dark, so chances for spotting one would be better if he took to the trees.

Teri met with his hiking group after he finished preparing. Around him were all familiar faces, since he had met so many people during the last week.

"Well, you packed a lot," someone said when he saw Teri's bag. It was just Merion. As usual making comments to get on Teri's nerve. He knew the routine.

"Not that it'll be hard to carry." Teri smiled and shifted the bag over his shoulder. "I've carried heavier before. Up steeper hiking trails."

"Oh really, now."

"Really."

"And I bet you were going barefoot too?" the blondie challenged.

"You never know when you might lose your shoes."

They stared each other in the eye, glaring.

"Oh just go make out already!" one girl yelled at them.

That shut them up.

For the beginning of the hike, Teri didn't speak to anyone else. Thought of catching the ghost were on his mind. It was only about half an hour into the hike that he decided he should split off from his group. He tapped Sosuke on the shoulder.

"Hm?" Sosuke looked over at him.

"I'm going to be right back…. If anyone asks where I went, just tell them that… I… went to the restroom, all right?"

"Okay."

Teri began to walk off, when he heard Sosuke tell him from behind, "Don't get hurt!"

His eyebrows bent into a puzzled expression, and he kept walking.

As he reached the edge of the trail, he reached into his bag and took out something vital—the notebook. He flipped it open to a blank page and began to write out directions on how to get back to the main trail.

_So if I'm walking BACK here… then… that means that if I take a right now, I'll be going left then._ He quickly scribbled something down and entered the trees.

The light vanished quickly as he ventured deeper into the woodland, and his eyes began to adjust to the change in brightness. He had good nocturnal vision, so making his way through a dark forest should have been a piece of cake, after all. A sense of anxiety ran up him as he anticipated the unexpected sight of the floating head at any time. The bottom of his nails turned a faint purple.

A part of him wanted to tell himself, Oh what am I thinking. Floating ghost heads. Pshh. It's just some story that Yaoe made up. But there was another part of him that said, If I just lie to myself without ever knowing what it was for sure, I know this is going to eat away at me…. So he grabbed the net from his bag and positioned it by his shoulder to be an the ready… just in case.

Another half an hour quickly passed. Back in the hiking group, Sosuke and the others began to worry for Teri and his evidently troublesome bathroom habits that got him lost easily. But Teri hiked on through the woods, letting no branches hang in his way. He eventually came upon an unmistakable clearing that let the sunlight in—all the trees nearby had been blasted away, creating a tunnel-like dome through the forest as if something had blasted right through.

"Whoa," Teri breathed. Was the forest always like that? It looked new. He took note of this landmark in his notebook and continued onward.

His feet began to tire, although he pushed himself to make do with it. But after many more minutes of searching, Teri sat down in exasperation and put his head in his hands.

_I knew it_, he said to himself. _I knew it. What was I thinking. What I saw was just part of my imagination, no doubt_. He looked around. _Besides, this forest is way too big for me to find what I'm looking for. I should just turn around and_—

There was something faint in the distance that his eyes settled on, which cut his thoughts completely short. Something white…. He squinted, as to see clearer. It wasn't just "white." White _hair_.

Like lightning, sort of, Teri got to his feet. He began to walk. Then run.

The closer he got, the more it was confirmed to him. Undoubtedly. White hair on a head. He couldn't see a body attached to it. It was cradled in the grass.

Teri whipped up his net and smacked it down over the head. Finally, he had caught it! Now he could see for sure if it was actually a ghost.

…Up close, he could finally tell that it _wasn't_ a floating head.

It was indeed attached to a body.

Teri's eyes widened. And he had just….

The girl yawned and sat up, stretching her arms in the air. She sleepily opened her eyes, settling them on Teri.

She screamed.

* * *

Jolting, the girl smacked her back against a tree, holding her hands in front of her in a defensive position.

Teri had no idea what had just happened. With his foot, he kicked away the net that had fallen to the ground. He felt like a total idiot.

The girl simply looked at him with fearful eyes, trembling in his presence. Teri sat down in an apologetic position and lowered his head.

"Oh my gosh…. I am _so, so sorry!_" He bowed to her, desperately and pleadingly. "I am such an idiot! I didn't know it was just someone who had fallen asleep in the middle of the forest…." He paused, realizing how weird that sounded. "Wait a second." Teri looked up at her. "Who are you? I don't think you're in this summer camp…."

She definitely didn't look like anyone he knew. Light hair, long and separated into two tails down her neck. Not completely white, now that he had a closer look—there were shades of violet in it, as well. She certainly didn't look like she was well-suited for hiking. And those green eyes…. They just gazed at him in puzzlement.

"Ah!" Teri smacked his fist into his palm before she could respond. "So it must have been _you_ that I saw wandering around last night! Haha, I knew that there was answer…." He didn't know how he could have mistaken her for something of the paranormal. She was actually kind of pretty. Maybe it was because it had been night, and everything seemed a little off just an hour or so before midnight.

The girl frowned at him. She brushed herself off and stood up. "You are going to forget that any of this happened."

"Uh… wha…?"

"That is what you are going to do." She looked down at him resolutely, then began to walk off. She let out a small cry and fell back to her knees.

Teri watched worriedly from over her shoulder. "Wh-what happened?"

"M-my ankle…."

Meekly, she took her hands off of her ankle and showed him an area of swelling.

"Ah… that looks like a sprain to me…" diagnosed Dr. Teri.

She bit her lip.

"Here. Maybe we can—"

As he stepped forward, the earth beneath him gave way and tumbled out, leaving nothing beneath his feet or the girl's. Caught by surprise, she grabbed onto his shirt, while he grabbed onto the branch of a tree.

"Erg… was that… supposed to happen…?"

"I don't think so…" she said.

"All right, hold on a second. I'm going to hoist you up, okay? You're going to have to grab onto that branch beside you, 'cause I don't know how steady the dirt is right now…."

"Okay…."

Teri let her grab onto his hand, and used all his might to lift her up out of the hole that he had created. She only let go of him when she had grabbed onto the tree branch closest to her and wrapped her arms around it. He then brought himself onto another branch close by and tested the ground below it with his foot. It seemed sturdy enough, so he hopped down.

But when he walked over to the girl and put his hand out, all she did was give him an odd look.

"Well? You can't walk, can you?"

She shook her head.

"We can go look for my hiking group. Our counselor's got a first-aid kit with some ice in it. I'll have to carry you there, though."

She looked off to the side.

"Here, you can get on my back if you want."

Reluctantly, she let go of the tree branch and slipped onto his back. Teri grabbed onto her legs at both his sides, and bent down to retrieve his notebook. He frowned at the backpack, knowing that he'd just have to leave it.

"All right. You ready?"

She nodded, even if he couldn't see it.

He headed off.

* * *

"So, what's your name?"

"Hope…." Her voice was rather meek.

"Oh." Teri blinked. "That's a pretty name. Well, mine's Teri." He adjusted his grip on her legs for a moment so that she wasn't slipping any longer. "So, um… do you sleep in the forest often, Hope-chan?"

"Nope," she answered. A pause. "I was actually, um… looking for somebody. They came through here recently so I thought I might find them…." She trailed off, leaving her sentence sounding as though it was meant to be a question.

"Well… I'm sure that after we get your ankle fixed up, you can go look for them again."

"They're probably gone by this point…" she said.

A sigh came from her. She was such a quiet girl, Teri thought.

"Sorry…."

"Sorry for what? I'm the one who should be apologizing. After hitting you with a net and all…."

"What?"

"Uh, nothing."

"N-no, I just meant…. Sorry that you had to… carry me…."

"It's okay," Teri dismissed. "You're not heavy."

"I—I don't go on foot very often…."

_But I found her in the forest,_ he thought. He pictured her riding a carriage through the woods with a top hat and cane. It was quite a strange thought.

"So, um, where is your hiking group?"

"They're on the trail. We're still in the forest." Teri glanced down at the set of directions he had written in his notebook. It was a bit harder to hold and position it so that he was able to see it with Hope's leg slung over the crook of his elbow.

"Ah! You wrote directions in your notebook?" She was looking over his shoulder. "That's really smart!"

"Mm… thanks? I guess…." Teri looked off to the side. "I use notebooks for a lot of things." He laughed a bit nervously. "Of course, they'd be a lot more useful to me if I didn't keep losing them all the time."

"Oh." Hope quieted down again. "I-I'm sorry."

"Um? It's okay." He laughed again. "It's not your fault."

She squirmed a bit uncomfortably on his back. Teri lowered his eyebrows. If she kept doing that, this trip back to the hiking trail was going to take a lot longer than he had expected.

Since his directions were so precise, they made it back to the hiking trail in only about half an hour. He checked his watch. 9:45 Thank goodness. It wasn't nearly noon yet, which meant that his hiking group was still on the trail. He just needed to catch up with them… although he had no clue how long that would take.

He took a breath. "All right, Hope-chan. I'm going to start running from here on out. That okay with you?"

"I'm fine with that," she said coolly.

Teri raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, although he did smile a bit. He handed his notebook off to Hope to hold. With a push of his foot against the ground, he broke into a run. It was a steep hiking trail with many branches hanging overhead, but he managed to dodge them and continue onward without letting Hope or himself get smacked in the face.

He was a fast runner—no pausing to catch his breath, no stopping to smell the roses or any other eye-catching wildlife that was actually quite harmful on closer inspection.

It was in just about fifteen minutes that he managed to catch up with the group. They were all quite surprised to see that he had survived from his trip to the restroom.

"He's back!" Sosuke shouted.

Their counselor turned around. "Really?" He headed toward Teri. Then he frowned and put his hands on his hips. "You've been gone for almost two hours now. Where have you been? You know that you're not supposed to split apart from the…"

Hope peered out from behind his back.

"…group…." The counselor shook his head. "Who is that?"

"Who?" Teri asked. Then he laughed. "Oh. Right. This is Hope-chan."

"Uh… hi." Hope gave a shy wave.

Sosuke and Yaoe's jaws dropped.

"You're telling us," said Sosuke, "that you left in the middle of a hiking trip—usually your _favorite part_ of summer camp, might I remind you—to go searching in the woods for a girl, of all things?"

"Uh…."

"He didn't find me," Hope cut in. "I found him. By dropping from the trees onto his back."

Sosuke blinked at her.

"I'm a leech."

"No you're not."

"I can prove it," she said.

"Suuure you can."

"Uh… I actually carried her here, Danya-san!," Teri explained to the counselor. "She sprained her ankle and needs first-aid."

"Mm-hm." He took his hands off of his hips, looking up and down Hope. "Let's see this ankle, then."

Hope was lifted off of Teri's back and given a fallen log to sit on as the counselor inspected her ankle. After confirming that it was sprained, he dug through his backpack to get the first-aid kit that had ice in it. Gently, he applied it to the swelling. This earned a wince from her, though her expression of pain quickly faded.

The other hikers campers in the group, meanwhile, marveled at this mysterious stranger.

"Wow! You're so tall!" one of the younger girls said.

An older girl laughed. "Nah, she's way too short."

"Her hair is all funky…. Are you a foreigner?"

"Or maybe an alien!" said a little black-haired kid.

"Neroko-chan! That's not very nice to say," Teri scolded her.

Many of the kids there looked at him strangely.

"What? I just…"

"_I'm_ definitely not an alien though." Neroko cupped her elbows in her hands. "Nope."

She just looked off to the side.

Somebody coughed.

"So! Um." Akuro tried to change the subject. "You found her in the forest! What…. What was she doing there?"

"Maybe that's where she lives."

"No." Hope giggled a little. "Actually, I was in the forest because I was plotting the quickest way to start a forest fire."

Everyone gasped and looked at Hope in horror. All except for Teri, who started laughing.

"Teri-san!"

"But it's funny! She was just joking."

"Aw, yeah, you're right." Hope smiled innocently. "Um…" She averted her eyes. "…by the way…"

"Yeah?"

"…th-thanks… for helping me." She was twiddling her index fingers together.

"Oh. Right. No problem." Teri gave her a thumbs-up and a smile.

"I wish I could repay you…." She sighed.

Yaoe and Sosuke exchanged a glance. They grinned and walked up to Hope. Bending down, they whispered something into her ear.

"What?" She looked at them. "What's that?"

They whispered something else.

"Oh, that? Yeah, I think that I could do that! I could definitely do that!" Hope stood up and clenched her fist. "Teri-san, I will be your tutor!"

Her moment of drama was cut short as she fell back down onto the log to grabbed her ankle in pain. "Ow, ow, ow…."

* * *

**A/N: Yay, so Teri found a tutor without having to even try or think about it for very long. But how long will it last, I wonder? (Okay, I'll stop being annoying now and get to the point.)**

**I'm going to change my updating schedule to every three days now. I usually do so every other day (I have at least 8 more chapters already written), but school's started up again so I might spread it out a bit more, since I've got less time to write. Sorry! Hope you all keep reading, though! (Well. If you're enjoying. If you're not then I assume that you wouldn't be reading. Unless it's such a bad story that it's funny. As long as I entertain in some way, then I'm good XD.)**

**Also, for those of you who are easily entertained, I suggest you scroll back up to the list of names in Teri's hiking group and read each last initial.**


	6. Teri's Twin-'tailed Tutor

Admittedly, that was one of the weirder days of Teri's summer camp experiences. Seeing what he thought was a ghost. Finding out that it was actually just some girl in the forest. And somehow, his two friends deciding that she'd be his tutor.

"But I don't need a tutor," Teri had insisted to them. And they reminded him, for the appleth time now, that he _did_ need a tutor because he was failing school.

"Ohhhh, right," Teri recalled. His face fell forward onto the tree trunk in front of him and Yaoe and Sosuke almost thought they heard him say a bad word.

"I'm sure your friend Hope-chan will be a fine tutor," Sosuke said to him. He nudged Hope with his elbow. "Hey, you're smart, aren't you? And you're probably good with regular subjects. Mysterious new characters usually are."

Teri's head rose up. "Wait, what?"

"Hmmm…." Hope thought for a moment. "I don't really know…. I've never gone to school before…."

"Aaaaahahaha… Teri you're screwed," Yaoe laughed.

"No! I mean, I've been homeschooled."

"Ah!—Ohhhh."

"Come to think of it"—She put a finger on her chin and looked up.—"I haven't been to summer camp ever, either. What's it like?"

"Oh, um." Teri thought. "Well you get to do stuff like hiking and swimming. You get to hear stories and meet new people and make friends."

"Really?" Hope grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes. "I want to do that! Can I?"

"Um…." His eyes wandered away from hers. How did she become so cheerful suddenly? This girl confused him. "You know, that'd be great, but I don't know if it's legal to—"

Hope was already giddily running away from them, her twin tails swishing behind her. "I'll go make the arrangements right away!"

A few minutes later she came back, wiping the sweat off her brow, and with a smile on her lips.

"All done! I get to be in summer camp now."

"Um… so, what did you do exactly?"

"Oh, uh, I just entered my name in on the roster and filled out some more stuff. It's all good."

Teri just blinked at her. "Do your parents know?"

She made a face. "I guess it's time to make up some excuses…."

Teri giggled, the edges of his eyes curving downward as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. Hope smiled softly at him, and he smiled back in a contented silence. She confused him, a lot… but she really did quite lovely green eyes. For a moment, he got lost in them.

Yaoe and Sosuke watched from in between the two of them.

"Okkkay, summer camp's officially gotten twenty percent weirder."

"No kidding. I'm way weirded out about what just happened."

Summer camp also became twenty percent less boring, too. Perhaps even higher than that. As the days passed, Teri didn't know what it was, but there was something about this new girl that was really exciting. Though she may have been shy when they met, he could tell that she was beginning to feel more comfortable around him. She quickly donned the cheerful and funny side of herself that made his days so much more fun.

There wasn't a single challenge Teri put her way that she backed down from, be it racing each other, or climbing trees, or swimming, or anything else—a fun little kind of competition between the two of them, unlike his rivalry with Merion, which… wasn't so fun.

And she was pretty rad at telling horror stories, too.

Everything about her was new and alluring. Even if other kids were weirded out about it, Teri sure wasn't. And even though she was still a bit of a confusing stranger, oddly it was… in a very intriguing sense, he came to realize. He still wasn't quite sure what it was that caused them to get along so well with each other.

On the last day of summer camp, Yaoe and Sosuke were quite impressed that Teri had not stressed out about failing school the whole entire rest of the week.

"It's because of Hope-chan, isn't it?" Sosuke asked him. "I mean, you've been doing _everything_ with her this past week…. Not even the counselors can separate you two." He touched a finger to the side of his chin and smirked. "You've taken quite a… _liking_… to her."

"Yeah!" Teri clenched his fist. "She's going to make a great tutor, isn't she?"

His two friends face-palmed.

By the time late afternoon rolled around, everyone was beginning to depart from summer camp and return to their homes. After saying good-bye to his friends, seeing Hope off, and waving to his cousins as they drove off in a deluxe limo, Teri sat on a log fence and wrote in his notebook about the events of that day under the date "8/28" as he waited for his own ride to come.

_Well, that's the end of summer camp this year. It's a bit off a shame, since I was just beginning to enjoy it. But I suppose there will always be next year._

_Exchanged phone numbers and emails and such with Akuro Hagakeru, Tochi Iwatsura, Anka Ikatando. I wonder when I'll see them again._*_ I'll definitely see Hope-chan again, though, since she's going to be my tutor so that I won't be failing a school anymore. How awfully nice of her. She's so nice. And she's really fun. Really pretty, too. I wonder if she thought I was fun, too. I hope so. I wonder if that sentence sounds weird._

As he saw a red car pulling up, Teri quickly shut the notebook and shoved it into his bag. The car slowed to a stop a few feet ahead of him and the back door opened up.

"Nii-chan!" A young blonde girl popped her head out.

"Hi there. Move over a sec." She ducked her head so he could toss his bag in behind her. Then he shut the door and entered the passenger's seat, next to his dad who was driving.

"Where's mom?" he asked, looking around.

His dad started driving again. "Your mom wasn't able to come, sorry. She's still at PPL headquarters finishing up some extra work."

"Oh… that's too bad." Teri wasn't all that surprised. His mom and dad were usually busy like that.

Behind him, his little sister folded her arms around the neck of his seat. "Did you miss me, Nii-chan?"**

Their dad quickly glanced up toward the rear-view mirror. "Put on your seat-belt, Girara."

"Yeah, I missed you," said Teri. "It wasn't the same without you there."

"Was Kohizou-kun there?"

"Yup. Yup he was."

"What about Shiseko-chan?"

"Mm-hm."

"Neroko-san too?"

"Definitely."

"And Kuyuii-chan?"

"Her too."

"And Oblivion-kun?"

"Uh, I don't think he's ever gone."

"Oh yeah." She paused. "What about—"

"Yeah, all of them were there, Girara."

She frowned and thunked her back against her seat before finally putting her seat belt on.

"Sorry you couldn't come," Teri said to her.

Through the rear-view mirror, he could see her folding her arms over her chest.

"Are you still sick?"

"The doctor said I might die!" she said with a big smile.

"No. No, he didn't. Don't lie to him, Girara," her dad told her.

Teri just laughed. "Yeah, she's better, all right."

They waited at a red light momentarily, and their dad tapped his tan-skinned fingers on the steering wheel as he waited. After the light turned green, they took a left to get to Tokyo.

"Summer camp was helpful his year? Bet you learned lots of survival training…."

"Uhh, no, I'm pretty sure that's boot camp you're thinking about."

"What? You sure?" His dad laughed.

"Oh—but I _did_ find a tutor though."

"Tutor?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "Tutor for what?"

"For… well… school." Teri's voice was hesitant. "I need one, don't I?"

"Why would you need one?"

"Um, 'cause I'm failing?"

"You… haven't told me this."

"Oh… oops."

His dad was silent for a moment, until he assured him, "Well, it's not like you learn anything useful in school anyway…. Just be sure not to tell your mother."

"Uh, sure?"

"What is Nii-chan failing?" Girara asked from the back seats.

"Personal conversation, Girara," said Teri.

"Don't worry, Nii-chan. I think you'll win!"

"Uh, thanks, but it's really not a competition of any sort…."

His dad just covered his mouth with his hand and laughed a little.

When they arrived back at the house, Teri unloaded his bags into his room and tossed his notebook onto his bed. He flopped down onto the bed himself, stuffing his face into his pillow. The smell of home, after having not seen it for two weeks, was comforting. No more of Yaoe's over-exaggerated horror stories. No more having to babysit his bratty younger cousins… for now. But no more fooling around with Hope, either. Starting tomorrow, she was going to be his tutor.

Teri went to his nightstand and picked up his cell phone, one thing he had not been allowed to bring to summer camp. He flipped it open and inserted Hope's phone number into his list of contacts. Momentarily pondering whether he should ask her where she could meet him, his finger hovered over the buttons. He decided that she'd agree to go to his house, so he texted her the directions. Afterschool sports wouldn't be starting until October, so that would give them plenty of time to go through the lessons. He couldn't wait to see her again.

The next day was when Hope came to his house, strolling past the door like she had a really important job to do after a bow and a brief "Hello!" to Teri's parents and then an "I'm looking for Teri-san." And then she headed up to Teri's room with no explanation following.

Needless to say, Teri received an interesting talk from his parents afterward….

But anyway.

They got down to business at once, and Hope proved to be a pretty competent tutor for someone who had never tutored really anyone before. But she knew her way around most of Teri's problems, and they worked out a way to help him retain the information. (The keyword was review. Lots and lots of review. …50% of the time it didn't work much, yeah, but it was better than nothing, at least.) Teri actually really needed the help, as he soon realized. His friends had been right.

Wasn't he surprised when he showed up to school again on the twenty-eight and saw Hope in his class wearing the school uniform.

"H-Hope-chan?" He could not contain his surprise.

Hope giggled. "I thought I could help you more if I knew what lessons you were having in school."

Still, he looked rather dumfounded.

"Ah! But school with everyone else my age… I've never done it before. I bet it's going to be so fun!" she said. Then she gave a twirl, displaying the uniform on her. She clasped her hands at her chest with a cheerful smile. "Doesn't it look nice on me?"

"Y-yeah…." He trailed off.

"Hm?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," he quickly said. "And… thanks a lot for the tutoring."

Hope gave him a funny look. "Are you all right?"

"What? Of course I'm all right. I—I—What do you mean—"

"I don't know, you're face just looks kind of red, that's all."

Frowning, Teri covered his face with his hand and raced off.

But sure enough, Hope stuck to her promise and continued to come to Teri's house after school each day to tutor him. She was quite right—now that she had miraculously enrolled herself in his same school, she had a better understanding of what particular subjects he was struggling with. There was a method to her madness after all.

The afternoon after the second day of school, their tutoring session had just ended and Hope never failed to amaze him. He could already feel the good-student-ness beginning to well inside of him thanks to her kindness.

"Wow." Teri shut his math book. "Thanks for all your help again today, Hope-chan!"

"It's no problem." Hope gave him a smile and looked up at him shyly, her head tilted down.

Teri did not respond. He just cast his eyes to the ground as he walked her to the front door.

"U-um… sorry I wasn't much help with your social studies and Japanese literature," she apologized.

"That's okay. You helped with a lot of other stuff."

"I'll be sure to get a lot of books on those so I can be more help the next time after I've done some research."

She was looking off to the side, clearly with something on her mind. Teri gazed at her, Hope unknowing of this, as he realized that there was a lot he didn't know about her. Like why she was helping him, for one thing. If this was about her ankle, she was going to an awful lot of trouble to repay him. And what had she been doing in the forest, in the first place? Who would she have been looking for out there? He wanted to know the answers to these things. But more than that, he wanted to know more about Hope herseflf.

Teri reached for the knob to open the door for her, when he paused and let his hand fall back at his side.

"Hope…chan?"

She looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Thank you… really… for helping me."

"Oh. Um." She smiled. "It's the least I can do to make it up to you for the… uh… ankle… thing."

"That's really nice of you." He gave her a grateful look. "I mean—really. You don't know how much this has helped me."

"I—I'm glad."

"You sure that going to school with me isn't a bit much, though?" he asked.

"No, I think it's fun! I really like it."

Before Teri could do it for her, Hope opened the door and stepped out.

"Well then, uh, see you tomorrow, Teri-san."

"You too."

She swung the door, about to close it, when she paused.

"…Teri-san?"

"Hm?"

She was looking away from him. Her voice was meek and lacking in its usual confidence. "I—I'm really sorry…."

He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. This time, he wasn't that interested in knowing the answers. All he knew was that he really didn't like to see her so sad. Perhaps it was normal for him to feel that way, as he didn't normally like to see a friend of his down, either. But this was…. This was different. He didn't know what it was that made it so, but Teri felt quite a bit sad, too.

He snapped back to reality. "Oh. What? Uh, sorry for what, now?"

"I…." She glanced at him briefly, and then looked away again. She sighed. "Never mind."

The next thing Teri knew, he was looking at a closed door.

* * *

The day following, he was relieved to see that Hope looked a lot less sad. In fact, she was happy. _Very_ happy.

"Well, what cheered you up?" he asked her as they headed off to the study.

"Oh…." She giggled, putting her fingers to her lips. "That's a secret….~"

…Maybe it was just the summer heat, but Hope was looking 75% brighter and more glittery to Teri.

Concerned for himself, he waited the next day to see if she looked the same. She did.

Throughout the next day while she tutored him, Teri tried to reason what it could have been that made her so much brighter. It was just the sun. Right? The sun was directly over the window of the study around noon, which was the time that Hope usually came to tutor him. That would have made sense.

Or maybe it was just that she was really charming….

Teri blinked. _Well that was a weird thought._ He was sure it wouldn't happen again.

Until it did.

_She's really cute when she smiles._

And then

_Wow are her eyes gorgeous. Such pretty green shades. I like the way they're shaped, too._

They just kept coming and coming. This was going to be a problem if it kept up. Teri was becoming way too distracted during his time being tutored by her.

Paying attention to mathematics were already a thing of the past. It wasn't that he became bored by them—granting that he wouldn't be surprised if he was. But Teri actually took the effort to listen to what she was saying sometimes, and he still couldn't, even if he had been able to do so before.

"And then, you see, because the left side of the equation contains a cubed root as its base, you can just simplify it to have the same base as the other side, and multiply the logarithmic exponent by the exponent of three…. Uh… Teri-san?"

Teri wasn't really listening. He was just sort of staring at her while she talked.

Hope stopped talking and looked him in the eye, trying to figure out what was wrong. After waving a hand in front of him, he blinked a little and woke up.

"Oh? Hm? Uh, right. Logarithms. Haha. They're weird…."

"Teri-san, are you okay…?" she asked slowly.

He sat up now. "Huh?—Yeah, I'm fine." Twiddling his fingers. "Totally fine…."

She glanced down at her watch, and her expression turned to that of surprise.

"Oh my goodness! Our two hours are already over…. I'd better be going back home now. Sorry, Teri-san!" She began to shove her things back into her bag.

"What? Are you sure? You can totally stay a little longer if you wanted…."

"Yeah, but I told my parents I'm out doing other stuff…." She knit her eyebrows. "So I have to be back right away. I'm so sorry!"

"O-oh. That's okay too…."

Teri tried to hide his disappointment, but happily saw her off nevertheless. After she left, he shut the front door behind him with a sigh and leaned against it. His progress in school was dropping again. The tutoring wasn't working as well the last couple of days, and he didn't know why. …Although sadly, he had a bit of an idea.

Little had he known, he and Hope had been stalked….

His little sister ascended from the shadows behind him. "Nii-chan."

"AAH! Girara. How long were you there?"

She had a grin of evil. And from that eight-year-old mouth came the tease that Teri always dreaded would one day come. "Nii-chan's got a girlfriend.~"

"No! She's just tutoring me," Teri corrected her.

His sister just giggled. "Uh-uh. Nii-chan likes her."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I _don't_."

"Yes you _do_!"

"N—Fine! I do!"

Girara stepped back in shock as her brother shot her an angered expression. She hadn't actually been expecting that he would admit.

Teri just walked past her, dismissing the girl and her childish antics to pursue the relief of solitude, recovery, and heavy, _heavy_ contemplation.

* * *

*Spoilers: Never. Don't get your hopes up.

**"Older brother"

* * *

**A/N: In which this story turns into a sappy teenage romance. Or does it? All shall be revealed next chapter.**

**Btw, if you want to see what all the characters look like, and if you want a couple of spoilers, check out Sunriseoflove (Rainbowkittyblossomwings)'s deviantart page. I don't have a deviantart because my computer is old and it sucks, if that's what you were wondering.**


	7. What on Earth?

Silently entering through the door. Creeping past everyone. Very inconspicuous.

In another room, she quietly swung the door open and entered. There were no windows. It was almost in complete darkness, save for the couple of beeping lights and glowing wires that illuminated the large objects, casting its curvy shadows onto the metallic walls that surrounded it. Other than that, this was her cave. A place that no one but she was allowed to enter into. It was dark and it was glorious; devoid of light, a seemingly hopeless and never-ending hallway that stretched out as long and as wide as she wished for whatever purpose she desired.

And its current purpose was to house a very peculiar object, one in almost a spherical shape, that stretched and came to a point at the front, adorned by a large curved window of hyperglass. Inside the mechanism were five separate seats. All empty.

She must find them all. But where to start? They left no trace. Her cameras were already installed in the place where the ship had crashed, in the hope that they would return. So far, none of them had.

All she had to work off of were two separate samples of this strange, pulpy substance that must have derived from a type of plant not found on this world. Another sample she held in her other hand; the same kind of plant scrap was attached to a bit of torn cloth.

It had a very familiar scent to it….

She smiled. Perfect.

* * *

It was odd—since admitting to himself, Teri felt a bit more at ease. Not around Hope, certainly; in fact, it was quite the opposite…. The list of ways he had begun to make a fool out of himself in front of her was already in the twenties.

It had only been a few days since the second quarter of eight grade had started. Definitely not good.

Teri wasn't quite sure what came next. He had watched as others found their own romances, though never one to deliberately pursue something of the sort himself. This left him staring straight into a blank wall, so to speak, scratching his head and diverting his eyes. All he knew was that it was a very happy feeling to have—that unique connection with her—and as long as it didn't distract him from anything important, then it should serve him no trouble.

That, however, proved to be quite otherwise.

" 'Otherwise,' " spoke their English teacher as he gestured to the board with a pointing-stick, "is an adverb, conjunction, or adjective that is used to suggest alternative possibility under other circumstances, in other respects, or in another manner. The history of the word derives from…"

As the English teacher droned on, Teri's attention was rapt. Just… not quite for him. Instead he had been staring at Hope the whole period, as usual; a bad habit that he had happened to pick up. She was currently doodling some sort of design in her notebook, not listening nor interested in the lecture about the history of the word "otherwise." Had Teri been in his right mind, he might have questioned the reliability of his tutor.

Subconsciously, Teri let out a sigh with a sleepy look in his eyes. Oh how he was going to fail the next English test if he didn't start paying attention, and soon. But that really wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. Instead he took out his own notebook, not any of the ones for school, and laid it on his desk. Lately his notebook had been serving him as a place to write about—not relevant things—but his newfound obsession. He opened to his latest page and began to write.

_I love watching Hope do nothing in particular…. She has a little smile on her lips as she doodles. Her cheek is leaning against the back of her knuckles. I wonder what she is thinking about? I wish I could know. I wonder why she doesn't have any bangs. Though, now that I think about it, it must be because she realizes how pretty she is and wants to flaunt it to the world. I think that's a good reason to have. I hope she knows it. She probably does. Ah, so this is what love feels like. I could just go on about this forever. I think I will. I think that_

The bell rang.

Teri frowned and quickly shut his notebook so no one else had to see what he had been taking notes on, which wasn't actually the vital lecture his English teacher was giving.

During lunch, his two friends Yaoe and Sosuke watched him with concern while he completely spaced off. He wasn't even eating.

"Yup. He's gone from the world," said Yaoe as he sipped his juice.

"Dunno if he's ever coming back."

"Huh?" Teri turned toward them, finally snapping back. "What did you guys just say?"

Sosuke, a grave look on his face, placing his elbows on the table and clasped his hands by his chin. "We're worried. You've been changing, man."

"Changing into, uh… what?"

Sosuke pointed off somewhere toward a crowd of girls who were bird-watching a lone Merion with hearts in their eyes—he was only eating and looking out at nature contemplatively, nothing special. But the girls were clearly enraptured.

"I'm changing into a girl?"

Yaoe spit his juice out as he started to laugh.

"No." Sosuke's eyes were grim. "It's not a rare disease, Teri-kun. We've all seen the symptoms before. You meet someone you like. At first it's just a little crush. And then, before you know it… you're completely absorbed in only one thing…"

"Not like he didn't have a one-track mind already," Yaoe noted.

"What!" Teri slapped his hands down on the table. "I—I don't know what you're talking about! You're acting like… like I… _like_ someone or something—"

"It's Hope-chan," Yaoe and Sosuke both said in unison.

"WHAT? Ahahaha, nooo…." Teri looked off to the side and began to laugh nervously.

Yaoe looked down grievously. "Alas. The Teri-kun we once knew is no longer of this world."

Sosuke gave him a comforting hug. They both needed it.

"Think we should tell him?"

They had Teri's attention now. "Huh? Tell me…. Tell me what?"

"About Hope-chan."

"What about her…?" Teri's voice was slow, uncertain.

"Do you remember," said Yaoe, "what happened last year when we got that new girl Kara Kuta in the middle of the year?"

"Um… nope."

"_All_ the guys started liking her. Well. Most of them at least." He smirked a little.

Sosuke nudged his friend. "You were one of them."

"And this is important, why?" asked Teri.

"Don't you understand? Everyone _loves_ new students. They go gaga over them."

"What?" It finally registered with him. "So there are other guys who like Hope-chan?"

"Mm-hm. Precisely." He started counting off his fingers. "Plus, she's petite, and smart, and has that unnatural hair color, which has _got_ to mean something."

"So? I've got an unnatural hair color, too. Doesn't mean it's anything special. Just means my mom has pink hair…."

"Maybe that means something, too."

Teri was silent for a moment. "This is a weird conversation. Let's talk about something else."

"Okay."

* * *

There were other guys who liked Hope. Teri hadn't considered that before.

It made sense, naturally. She was really cute… and funny… and really smart… and kind of mysterious, in a way….

He wondered if Hope liked any of them. She didn't seem like she was all that interested in anyone. But this began to worry him. What happened if she did like someone? Unlike Teri, would she act on it?

_Oh, darn it, is that what you're supposed to do when you like someone? Act on it?_ he wondered. He supposed this would be a good thing to do…. It couldn't be all that hard, right? All that he had to do was walk up to her casually and ask if she wanted to hang out not as tutor and pupil. Easy as being a pie. Which was actually rather hard to do, if he had been thinking about it. But he wasn't. Because thinking about being a pie wasn't really an important thought to have.

The glorious sound of the final bell, signifying freedom for all students, was his signal to move.

Teri began to sprint to Hope, ready to confront her and ask the easy question. The closer he got to her, the more he slowed down. He was having second thoughts. Suddenly he wanted to pull back and descend into the shadows, rethinking everything he was doing. What if he did it wrong? Or made a fool out of himself when he asked her? What if she said no, because she didn't like him in that sort of way? Did he even know what he was doing?

Every rational part of him screamed, _What are you thinking, Teri? There's no way you can do this._ But he pushed that thought down and sped up, even though his face began to burn. _No, I can't turn back now!_ he told himself.

"H-Hope-chan, would you by any chance like to—"

Instead, he halted himself before her back that was facing him as he realized she was already speaking to someone else.

"Hi, Merion-san!" She had just clasped her bag shut.

The blondie turned to her in surprise as he closed his sketchbook. "Hm…? Oh, Hope-chan. It's nice to see you."

"You wouldn't mind if I came to your house right now, would you?"

Teri's mouth dropped open.

"Hm? Why would that be, now?" he asked her.

Hope giggled innocently. "I think I'd like to get to know you a bit, that's all. I haven't really taken the opportunity to before, but will you give me a second chance?"

"Ah. This again." Merion scratched his head. "Well, I suppose it couldn't do any harm."

Just as Teri reached his arm out to her, they began walking off.

"Wait, Hope-chan! _We_ could always get to know each other a bit mo—"

They were already too far away.

Teri dropped his arm at his side and gave a small growl. He clenched his hand into his fist. Of all people that had to interfere… it just _had_ to be Merion—like always, letting Teri know full well that he was still better. Now even Hope liked him. Naturally. Everyone seemed to. Teri had no words for how unfair this was.

"Omigosh, Teri-kun's jealous of Hope-chan!" he almost thought he heard some girls squeal behind him. "That's soooo cute!"

Confused at why he was hearing things, Teri reluctantly headed on home by himself.

* * *

The walk home was a lonely one.

For one thing, Hope wasn't there by his side this time, talking endlessly about how fun her day at school was and how she was so happy to be in school with everyone, giving off that lovely smile as hers.

For another thing, he knew where she was right now and who she was with…. He could feel his blood boiling.

Oh, and it was raining also and he did not have an umbrella. That was a thing.

Rather indifferently, Teri lifted his school bag over his head to keep the rain off of him. From out of the top, where one of the buttons had come off, his notebook slipped out and onto the rain-splattered sidewalk.

For the moment, Teri looked at the soaking booklet lethargically, wondering if it was worth it to pick it up. Eventually he decided it was, and he used his foot to kick it into the air so he could catch it with his hand. It was sopping wet. Honestly, he didn't really care at the moment.

Walking the next few blocks home seemed like the longest walk of his life. The rain got harder; he even thought he saw a bit of lightning flash every now and then. Usually, he loved the rain—especially when it was raining really hard like this—but today seemed extra wet. And not particularly in the good sort of way.

"I'm home," he called out to no one as he finally stepped inside the door. He slipped off his soaking shoes (after much struggling) and his socks, and put on a pair of indoor ones. His bag was too wet to get his homework out quite yet, so he didn't bother taking it up to his room. Plus, Hope wouldn't be there to tutor him, anyway, so what was the point really.

Sighing occasionally as he made his way up the stairs to his room, Teri waved his notebook about so all the water would fly off. A trail of water droplets followed him up the stairs. He entered his room and began to take off his shirt, contemplating what he should change into to be less wet. After a struggle with the wet clothing, he managed to get his shirt off and toss it, as well as the notebook, onto his bed. Maybe changing into drier clothes didn't really matter. The day couldn't get any worse, after all.

"_Ah_!"

Teri froze. He slowly turned his head toward the bed. "Did my shirt just say something…?"

He watched, in utter confusion, as the shirt on his bed writhed about as if it was coming to life. Something stuck out from underneath the shirt—a… blue… hand?

Finally, the hand whipped the shirt off and the creature took a breath. Blue skin, some sort of yellow hat, small stature…. It almost resembled a frog, in some way….

Teri let out a scream and jumped back.

"What…. _WHAT IS THAT?!_"


	8. The Notebook

**A/N: Sorry that I didn't update yesterday. I wasn't able to upload the document at all until today - by uploading the 48,400 word document and deleting all the other chapters that it contained. I hope they get this problem with the copy-and-pasting fixed soon.**

* * *

Teri dashed out of the room. He clutched his hair anxiously, then dashed back in, locking the door behind him. If he wasn't so frantic, he probably would have been more careful about how much of a commotion he was making.

"Teri? What's going on up there?" he heard his mother shout from downstairs.

"Nothing, Mom!" he called back.

If he didn't do something, and soon, he felt like he was going to explode. What was this thing? What was it doing in his room? He took a breath, trying to calm himself.

Cautiously, he approached the creature. There would be no use in freaking out about it. He had to find out what it was.

Bending down, he looked the poor, terrified guy in the eye. "What are you?" He had to make sure that his voice was quiet enough for the creature to hear, though not loud enough to sound to his family like he was talking to himself alone in his room.

No response.

"Well? What are you?"

Still, nothing.

"You some kind of mutant creature?" The thing tried to dash away, but Teri grabbed it by its squishy head and held it up to his face. "Well? What are you? An alien?"

He dropped it back onto the bed. "No, what am I _thinking_! That's just dumb. Aliens aren't real!"

The alien scratched his head.

"Ah!" Teri smacked his fist into his palm. "Maybe it's some kind of foreign animal. Like a pet or something. Hey, are you an animal?"

It looked back at Teri with a dumfounded expression.

"I'll take that as a yes."

He went to his desk and picked up his cell phone, beginning to dial some numbers. Instantaneously, the creature darted up to him and clutched Teri's pant leg. He shook his head furiously, and started making rapid hand signals.

"Uh… is it normal for animals to shake their heads?" Teri wondered aloud. "Ah! I know. I'll ask Hope-chan what this thing is. Maybe she'll know what to do."

Again with the rapid head-shaking. Reluctantly, Teri put down the cell phone.

"All right. I'm not gonna call her. But you _aren't allowed to leave this room_. You hear me?"

The creature gave him a salute and then headed toward the window, bouncing happily.

"Ah! What did I just say? Were you even _listening_?"

Teri ran up to the creature and grabbed it by its head. Of course, it probably didn't understand Japanese. There would be no way to communicate with it. He sat down on his bed and stared it in the eye, wondering what to do next. If he didn't get rid of it, and soon, things could get problematic for him. It might have been a dangerous creature, for all he knew. Or a really mutated animal.

His expression softened into concern. "Oh god. I don't know what to do with you. I don't even have any idea what you are."

The creature blinked back at him.

"There's only one thing to do."

He got some rope. Suddenly, the creature looked terrified.

After tying him to a chair and bolting the windows shut, Teri brushed off his hands and looked at a job well done. The rest of the day he contributed to flipping out and examining all the possibilities of what the heck had just happened in his room.

* * *

Needless to say, school was… awkward the next day.

Teri was jittery. He didn't seem to be paying attention most of the time, but then, that had also become normal for him that past week. There was really only one thing on his mind at the moment: the creature he had found in his room. And what he was to do with it.

"Teri-san!" Someone poked him in the back.

Jolting, Teri turned around. It was just Hope.

"H-Hope-chan…." He forced a smile.

Surprisingly, she bowed to him. "I'm _so so so so_ sorry!"

He scratched his head. "Sorry for what?"

"That I couldn't tutor you yesterday…." She tossed a guilty sort of look off to the side.

"Oh. That's okay." That was what he said, but what she didn't need know was the intense amount of jealousy that stirred within him.

"So… how'd things go with Merion?" he dared to ask. Better to keep his mind off that weird creature while he was at school. He couldn't let this trouble him the whole day. No—he had plenty of other things that could do that instead.

"Oh, with Merion-san?" She frowned suddenly. "Uh… not so good…. It turned out I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

"About Merion-san."

_So I guess that means she's not interested in him anymore,_ thought Teri. _…Yesss!_

"What about you? How were things for you yesterday?" Hope giggled. "Did you get any homework done?"

"Uh…. Y-yeah, I did some homework." He omitted the details of everything that came before that: like finding some weird creature in his room. And tying it up. And flipping out for an hour or two.

But that was mainly it.

"Well, let's be sure to get a _lot_ done today!" said Hope with a cheerful smile.

And Teri, he just sort of thought_ KLJSFDKJHSFKDJH WHYYY._

"Um! Actually." Teri took a step back, and felt behind him until he could feel a wall. He moved up against that. "I have. Uh. Other stuff to do today." _Like find out what the heck that creature is in my room and HOW ON EARTH IT EVEN GOT HERE for one thing._ "Like—like—hang out with Merion myself!"

"What?" Hope looked confused.

"Uh… sure. That's right."

"But—but—"

A few other girls passing the two of them caught wind of this and began to squeal. "It's finally happening!" they shouted.

Hope shot them a deadly glance. The girls walked faster.

"So—um—if you'll kindly excuse me…" Teri continued avoiding Hope along the wall. "…I'll just be taking my leave now—_Oof_!"

He had bumped into something. Was somebody else using this wall to avoid someone?

No, it was just a Merion.

Speaking of walls, Teri started banging his head against one just then.

"I didn't know we were spending time together today, Teri." Merion was smirking; one of his eyebrows was raised in a quizzical fashion. Questioning Teri. Testing him.

"Uh… uh…" _How do I get out of this?_

"So, what are we going to be doing? Sparring?"

Teri had a nervous smile. "Y-you know I don't spar, Merion…."

"Well, what better time than today to learn?" He raised both his eyebrows now, his blond hair falling delicately over his right eye, since most of his hair was all swept to one side. Teri desperately sought for a way to get out of this.

Merion was so blond. And his eyes were so blue. They were so blue that sometimes they scared Teri because eyes weren't supposed to be that blue. Then again, like the thirteen-year-old with pink hair was one to talk. Besides, he had seen different colored eyes on people before. Like one time he met someone with no eyes. That was a pretty weird experience.

"Uh, you listening, Teri?"

"I don't think he's listening…" said Hope skeptically.

"What? I'm listening." _Now_, he added in his mind. "Fine, Merion. I _will_ spar with you." He looked at him challengingly in the blue eyes. They stung him somewhere inside.

Merion smirked. "That's what I thought. Meet me behind the Hojo Dojo at 3:30 after school."

Teri gave him a stubborn yet resolute nod, and began to walk off.

From behind him Hope called, "I'll root for you, Teri-san!"

Teri grinned and felt his cheeks heat up. Merion, however, frowned.

* * *

For as long as he could remember, Teri never had been really good with directions. But before finding where that place was that Merion wanted him to meet at, he first had to find out what the heck a Hojo Dojo was. Then he had to decide if it was worth it to go actually carry out his excuse, or if he'd rather do more important things, like actually find out what that creature was in his room.

But—no! One never stood up their rival. That would be a sign of defeat, which was simply something Teri couldn't do.

Grudgingly, he stuck to his word and met Merion in their decided meeting spot after school… although anxiety nudged at the back of his head. He couldn't get his mind off the creature.

Merion was in his karate gear, already warming up when he turned to see Teri. "Ah, so you did come."

"What? You thought I'd stand you up?" he asked him.

"I won't deny that the thought crossed my mind once or twice."

Teri frowned. "All right. How do we do this, then?"

"Well." Merion tossed him something white, which Teri caught in his hands. "First you've gotta suit up. Can't have you sparring in your school clothes, can we?"

He looked at the karate clothes in his hands that Merion had tossed him. Traditional white cloths. He looked at Merion's attire. Black belt. It figured. Teri wondered if he would be able to beat him.

After Teri changed, they soon found out that the answer was an obvious no. In fact, it had only been a few minutes until Merion won the informal sparring match. Teri knew just the basics; the blocks, the hits, and the kicks, and what regions to strike at which ones to not. And although he had the strength, certainly, he was still no match for Merion, who had been training since he was a kid, most likely.

Merion put his hands on his knees, and Teri wondered if he was catching his breath. He wasn't. He was laughing at him.

Teri frowned. "Yeah? So you won. No surprise there."

"Still funny, though." He grabbed his abdomen, hooting with laughter.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to go out and change, 'cause I've kind of got other stuff to worry about at the moment." Teri headed into the back room of the Hojo Dojo just as Merion finally started breathing again. Even though he wasn't even close to being _on par_ with Merion's karate skills, he still felt slightly humiliated.

"Hey!" Merion called to him as he lay down on a bench, his head at the sky.

Teri gave him a slightly muffled shout back from inside the changing room.

"You can always start learning if you wanted. Then we could _actually_ spar sometime."

He came out of the changing room now, and tossed the uniform back to Merion, who reached his arm lazily in the air to catch it. "Sorry. But karate really isn't my forte."

"That's too bad, then."

"Guess so."

Teri headed toward the back entrance from the building, now back in his school clothes. Merion was looking at him patiently, awaiting for one of them to say something. There was only an awkward silence. Teri didn't normally talk to Merion if he could help it. Before he finally did speak, he paused on the first word, testing it out. "What…. What did Hope-chan come to you for yesterday?"

"Ah, not much," Merion said. "Just a few questions. I couldn't help with any of them, though, so she had to leave."

"Mm-hm…." Teri looked at him skeptically, as though he didn't believe him.

"What?" Merion peered upside-down at him from the bench. "That's what happened."

They both stared at each other for a moment, until Merion grinned as he made the connection.

"Ahh, I see. You like her, don't you."

"What? I—no, I don't!"

"That's a shame." He "tsked."

"Why… why is it a…? Wait…." Teri's eyebrows lowered. "Oh geez…. Don't tell me _you_…"

He trailed off, relieved that Hope didn't like him, but at the same time, not so relieved from what Merion was implying. It couldn't be. Could it? No. Merion liking Hope. Even though it would totally make sense. Because she was cute. And smart. And really amazing. But if it _was_ true... not good for Teri. He didn't need something else to compete with Merion for.

"Well, it's not every day that I see a girl who isn't _totally uninterested in me_."

_Oh_, thought Teri disappointedly. His eyes narrowed as he frowned internally. "Now you're just gloating."

"I wish I was! You know how annoying it is? That I can hardly ever be alone at school?" Merion gave him a serious look. "And you know how gross it is that more than _half_ of those girls secretly want us to start making out?"

"Wait… what?"

"Uh-huh. That's my reaction."

"I'm… not sure if I should be more disgusted that you like Hope-chan or that most the girls in our school want us to make out…."

For just one moment, they both stopped competing with each other right then just to look each other in the eyes and share the same amount of revulsion.

"Please excuse me a moment. I've got to make a mental note to myself to avoid most the girls in our school now," Teri said as he went to his school bag. He opened it to search for his notebook. It was not there.

_That's odd; where could it have…._ His eyes widened.

The notebook. The bed. Home. Creature. It all hit him at once.

He accidentally left his notebook at home with an unknown creature who may or may not still have been tied up when _most of the pages in that particular notebook were all about how a whopping huge crush on some girl._

His face turned bright red.

"Going now!" Teri grabbed his book bag and zipped out of there at high speed.

Merion just blinked and scratched his head.

* * *

Teri had never run home faster than he had that day. Or slammed the doors harder as he raced upstairs at full speed.

"ALL RIGHT, WHERE IS IT?!" he demanded as he locked the door to his room. He didn't even care anymore that his family might have heard him shouting to no one in particular.

The creature was casually laying on the ground on his belly, reading through Teri's latest notebook page by page.

Teri's eye twitched. The creature hadn't even noticed him enter the room. And how on earth had he gotten himself untied?!

Instead of yelling at the creature again, Teri quietly squatted in front of him and smiled. "May I have that back now? That's rather personal." His lips said _please_; his eyes said _I'll kill you._

Finally seeing a pair of knees in front of him, the creature's eyes slowly scanned upward. He jumped back against Teri's bed in surprise.

"Now, I'll be taking this—"

Teri reached for the notebook, but the creature dove for it instead. He picked up a pen from off the ground and—Teri could just watch in horror—began to write rapidly. In _his_ notebook.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The creature shoved the notebook in his face.

"Ah—"

Though a bit confused, he took the booklet and read the message in barely legible handwriting.

_Please kind and generous Pekoponian don't turn me in to the men in black I've heard all about them and they're really dangerous!_

Teri looked down at him. "Men in what now? Wait… what did you just call me?"

The creature reached his hands up and jumped a little. He must have been trying to communicate that he wanted the notebook.

Reluctantly, Teri handed it back to him and he began to write more.

_I am an officer of the space invasion force special advance team of the 58__th__ planet of the Gamma storm cloud system, a place called Keron._

He showed the message once more to Teri.

Who just blinked.

"So… you are a frog?"

The frog-creature did not respond. Teri realized the creature must not understand what he was speaking, but could apparently read just fine, so he wrote down his response.

_Are you a frog, then?_

The response:

_No, we're referred to as Keronians, actually. What a curious creature you are to ask such ignorant questions!_

Teri frowned at him, and then wrote, _Say that one more time, please?_

_Okay. What a curious creature you are to_

He snatched the pen out of his hand.

_Sarcasm._

_Oh. We have that on my planet, too._

_Your what?_ Teri wrote.

_Well, my planet._

For a moment, he was frozen in shock.

_You're an ALIEN?_

_You're really fast on the uptake!_ He made a happy expression and wrote something underneath that. _See! I can use sarcasm, too!_

_No, no. Just stop it already. Stop it already and start over from the beginning. I want to know why the heck aliens exist._

_The same reason as to why gravity's a thing, I guess,_ the alien creature—the "Keronian"—wrote with a shrug. _They just do. I mean, you're an alien to me._

_Why don't… _Teri was writing now with a trembling hand. …_you just start over __from the beginning__._

_Okay._ The Keronian flipped over to the next blank sheet of paper. _My name is Latata._

* * *

**A/N: Phfft Hojo Dojo XD**

**I'm sorry I just love that name to death.**

**Next chapter should be Tuesday, if nothing goes wrong again like it did yesterday.**

**How many of you think that I should strive for longer chapters? (Future ones, I mean - the ones I've already written, which is up to seventeen, I might not lengthen.) My goal is usually 2,000 words, but I think I'm ready to stretch that out a little more if I want to include more detail. I guess what I'm also asking is, how is the pace for this story?**


	9. Alien Invaders

**A/N: Do you smell that? It's exposition and a whole lot of italics. Apologies in advance.**

* * *

A thousand million thoughts boggled Teri's mind, all because of this one little Keronian. Suddenly everything he thought he knew was squished down and crushed until it wasn't anything anymore.

No, he _didn't_ know anything. He didn't know that aliens were actually real. He'd always thought that was a joke. Nor did he ever consider before the threat of actual alien invaders coming to Earth and, well, er… invading.

_My name is Latata._ That was how it began. Latata the Keronian. The _alien_. Who was in his room. Teri had no idea how any of this happened. But it did. And it was happening still—and he wanted to know everything about it.

Latata came from a planet called "Keron." Keron, as Latata described, was a glorious planet with much invasion skill to bolster, one of the acclaimed invasion planets in all the galaxies. They had not yet, however, conquered one particular planet on their list, a certain planet with much competition from other alien forces. For many millennia, Keron had sent its forces out to claim the planet. But each time, the invasion squads failed, or were killed, or vanished mysteriously, or something along those lines. This planet was Earth—or as Latata referred to it as, "Pekopon."

_And you,_ wrote Latata as he pointed at Teri, _are called a "Pekoponian."_

_Not Pekoponian. Human. And my name is Teri,_ he corrected him. _Teri Hinata._

_I like the name Pekoponian better. It describes your barbaric race so well. You are stunned out of your mind that you are not the only planet with living species in this universe, I presume? Well, if I had the equipment, I would erase your memories of this meeting since I'm just that generous. Pekoponians usually can't handle the knowledge of aliens, after all._

"I don't understand a word you're writing," said Teri as he scratched his head and frowned.

Latata smiled. _Great! It looks like you're beginning to understand. Now let me tell you all about my wonderful home planet._

He went on to describe more about Keron, like his favorite places, his favorite restaurants, his favorite food. He talked a bit about all the great TV shows that he had seen, and—

Teri wrote something down. _Please get to the point._

_Oh, right. OH! RIGHT! That reminds me._

_Does it, now?_

Latata stood up and looked him urgently in the eye. He jumped onto Teri's bed and peered out the window.

"What're you looking for, little guy…?"

Latata bounced back down and hopped onto his belly. He wrote the next message. _I should really be heading back to my platoon, now, so we can invade._

"He has a whole platoon?" Teri frowned. _I don't think that's going to happen_.

Latata looked up at him, confused. _Why not?_

_Any guesses?_

_Is it because I'm using your notebook to communicate?_

Teri just laughed.

_Who is "Hope," by the way?_

He stopped laughing. _So tell me more about your invasion thingy._

_Okay. Well, our initial strategy is to_—Latata scratched the previous sentence out. _Why am I telling you all this?_

_Because you're being dumb._

_No I'm not. You're the dumb one. You have know idea how easy it was to sneak into your poorly-guarded Pekoponian residence. I didn't even have to try!_

Latata paused.

_Hold on a minute. I thought that they said Pekoponians WOULDN'T be able to see through our anti-barriers!_

_Your what, now?_ Teri asked.

_Anti-barriers._ Latata pointed to the insignia on his hat, which was a music symbol. He picked up the pen again. _These little badges help turn us invisible to the Pekoponian eye. Or at least, they were SUPPOSED to._ He gave it a twist. Nothing happened. _Maybe mine's just broken. Maybe that's it._

_It turns you invisible?_ Teri wrote. _I'd say that's pretty cool, if you hadn't told me you were an alien invader from outer space and all._

_Thank you!_ wrote Latata. _Oh, it's also an anti-environmental barrier, and serves as an automatic translator. That's why I can understand your language!_

"Would've helped if they added a function for better handwriting," Teri muttered under his breath as he squinted at Latata's scribbly messages.

_Unfortunately, it only works for spoken languages, so I guess there's no hope of using Keronian Sign Language…._

Teri lowered his eyebrows a bit, then wrote, _Keronian Sign Language?_

_Right._ Latata paused a moment to stretch his fingers. _I'm deaf._

"Oh." That made a lot more sense, now. Like why Latata hadn't responded whenever Teri said anything. One thing he had never pictured was meeting an alien invader, let alone an alien. But he had never considered that alien species could be deaf, too….

_I'm sorry._

_Why are you being sympathetic?_ Latata looked genuinely confused. _Nobody told me Pekoponians could be sympathetic._

_I guess they lied to you, then._ Teri scratched the back of his neck. A part of him felt sorry for the guy, although he told himself not to let that bother him. This guy _was_ an invader, after all. _So, how did you get into my room, anyway?_

_Scouting and investigation mission._

_Did it have to be MY room?_

_Not just your room. Geez, don't be so egotistical. I've ventured other places this past week, too. Besides, how was I supposed to care?_

_I really don't like the way you said that, Latata._

_Anyway, that's what my platoon assigned me to do. They also told me not to get into any trouble. But I guess I blew that one out the window._

_Yeah, no kidding. Well, is there any way to contact them? You know, to tell them you're not coming back?_

_What do you mean?_ asked Latata. _Of course I'll be going back._

Teri just shook his head—one bit of body language that the blue Keronian could easily understand.

_Well, what are you going to do to stop me, Pekoponian?_

_Probably something to do with firearms._

_WHY DO REGULAR PEKOPONIANS HAVE FIREARMS? NOBODY TOLD ME THESE THINGS!_

_Please don't write in caps, Latata. You're taking up way too much space in my notebook. And I actually need this notebook for stuff._ _Like school._

_Ah! I have heard of this Pekoponian "school." I, however, attended training school as a tadpole, which was a grueling and demanding experience. The days back then were dark and stormy, although admittedly I really like that weather, but that's just the way I remember it._

Teri craned his neck slightly. It looked like whatever Latata was writing so much about, it must have been really important.

_On the first day of every school week we were made to go through rigorous exercises to keep us, just young Keronians, promisingly in shape, for fear that we had slacked off too much during the weekends. The second day of every week was no better. At lunch they only served us buns that they said had sweet filling, but they actually had spicy filling! It got me every time. Getting scorched tongues was one of the leading factors for all my visits to the training school nurse. She was this really old and ugly had who had grey skin and sagging eyes and a really raspy voice, and_—

_I don't really care._ It didn't take him long to get bored, once he saw what the guy was writing.

Latata frowned. _I'm stuck here, aren't I?_

_Yes._

_And with you?_

_Yes._

_Joy._

_You don't seem to be looking forward to it_, Teri wrote.

_That's because I'm not, Pekoponian._

_Then use some of your alien technology to zip you out of here, why don't you._ He wasn't looking forward to it, much, himself. He had his own life to live. His own things to do. He didn't know how much harboring an alien in secret would flip things around. But it was better than letting this potential invader run around loose.

_I'm not a tech officer! I'm a combat expert! I'm barely equipped with any weapons at all!_

_Pity. I guess you'll just be staying here then. As my_—Teri smirked.—_prisoner._

Latata did not at all seem to like this news. _But my platoon! I need to return to them!_

_Sorry, man._

_They must miss me so much right now…. I bet they're all worried._

_I'm sure you're the only thing on their minds right now._

_You think? Wow, Pekoponians really are nicer than I expected._

_Sarcasm, Latata. Sarcasm._

_Oh._ _Are you sure? Because I'm the first one they sent out when our space ship crashed. "Go and investigate something somewhere," the Senior Private told me. Those were the exact words that she signed to me._

_Your ship crashed?_

_Yeah!_ Latata began to write excitedly. _We were just zooming smoothly through space at hyperspeed… when OUT OF NOWHERE, there was this meteor! It smacked right into us! and before we knew it, most of our systems failed and we went careening into the horsey-thing._

_Horsey-thing?_

_Yeah, you know. The big green horsey-thing that turned into a bunch of buildings and then a bunch of trees the closer and closer you got to it._

_I think you mean Japan, Latata. Japan's a country. It's where we are now._

_Oh. …It is?_

_Yes._

_You know,_ Teri wrote, halfway musing to himself, _for an alien invader, you really aren't all that scary._ In fact, Latata's colors reminded Teri of the color of flowers—his blue skin; his yellow hat. There was a more certain kind of flower that it reminded him of, to be exact. What was that flower's name, now…. Something-me-not or… something like that.

_What? I am too scary. I can strike terror in the hearts of children. I can prove it, you know. Just find me a child._

_Honestly, the only other child in this house besides you is my little sister and she'd probably laugh at whatever attempt you made to scare her._

_Really? That's a pity that_—Latata started a new sentence. _Wait, did you just call me a child?_

_Ah. So you've figured out._

_I am SO not a child! Do you see this blue face? Do you see this smooth butt? I am an adult! I'm the second-youngest in my platoon!_

Teri couldn't help but giggle. _That's still pretty young, you know._

_Well, I'm not that young! Pulala's still younger than me._

_Who is Pulala?_

_She's the new recruit. She doesn't know ANYTHING. All she does is derp around all day and do nothing whatsoever. But she has guns and stuff, too, so I guess you might like her._

_I guess. Except the being-an-alien-invader part. What about the rest of your platoon?_ Teri asked. _What are they like?_

_Well._ Latata thought. _There's Senior Private Dokiki. She's the only one that I can actually talk to, since she knows Keronian Sign Language. It's programmed into her. She's a robot, actually. They told us this, but they sure didn't tell her. So she doesn't know, but they made her a tech officer anyway. All she ever does is complain about her job, though._

_You're kidding me. She's a ROBOT?_

_Yes. Oh, and then there's Xuyiyi. Haha, am I glad I can't talk, because not a single one of us could ever pronounce his name. But he's really weird-looking and kind of foreign._

_A foreign alien?_ Teri didn't look like he believed it.

_Yeah. He's really distant and doesn't like to talk to any of us, expect for our captain, who he TOTALLY has the hots for. But he's the medic and he heals stuff. Except my hearing. He could heal a lot of things but he couldn't heal my hearing. I don't really like him._

_Well, you've sure got some personal bias going on there…._

_Give me a second here._ Latata put down the pen so he could stretch his fingers again, grunting a little. _Wow, writing a lot sure is tiring. How do you do it so much? I mean, your notebook is practically filled to the brim!_

_It takes practice._

_So anyway… who am I forgetting? Right, duh! Our leader. He's Staff Sergeant Zurere. He's the scariest Keronian I've ever met, let me tell you. One time, I wasn't paying attention, so he snuck up behind me, took out his sword, put it very gently against my neck, and in the creepiest voice imaginable, he was like—_

Teri yawned.

_So anyway,_ Latata continued, _he's scary and that's a thing. But they say that he used to be a pirate!_

_You guys have pirates in space?_

_Yeah. They're called space pirates, DUH._

_Oh. Should I have known that?_

_Obviously. Geez, you Pekoponians sure are ignorant._ Latata put his hands on his hips and gave Teri a look of disapproval. _But I guess you're taking this all pretty well._

_That's what you think. This is all pretty shocking. I'm pretty sure after we stop writing, I'm going to go step outside for a little while and RETHINK MY ENTIRE LIFE. But at least you're not a very threatening alien or anything. Other than that, trust me, I'm still shaking._

_Is that why your handwriting is so bad?_

_Correct. Now, what's your excuse?_

_What? I have bad handwriting?_

_Yes, Latata…. Yes, you do._

_Is it bad enough that you'll let me go?_

_No._ At this, Teri just laughed.

He had a feeling that this was going to be difficult. But at least Latata wouldn't be that loud of a prisoner, that was a plus.

* * *

Taking care of the Keronian was harder than Teri had imagined. It was one thing just knowing that he was an alien. It was another thing entirely keeping the secret from his parents, while at the same time having to sneak up food to him and sneak him out of the room occasionally to use the restroom, since Latata's anti-barrier was broken and getting spotted by Teri's parents was a constant risk. It was interesting having the "you-know-Teri-if-you're-secretly-keeping-a-wounded-animal-from-us-that's-all-right-you-just-need-to-tell-us" talk with his parents. In fact, he'd been getting a lot of interesting talks from them lately.

But if his parents thought he was going to sit down with them and tell them that aliens existed, and was in fact _keeping_ an alien invader in his room, then they had some major re-thinking to do.

In the beginning, one thing he was sure to be thankful for was Latata's deafness, since he had thought that that meant the guy would be silent. But it didn't. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Because Latata could not hear, he was completely unaware when he was making random sounds out of nowhere—resulting in Teri giving him a written explanation of what he was doing, and why that was not okay.

And then there were the nights, in which Latata let the world know his greatest skill of all… snoring. Teri used up so much money purchasing the latest earplug technology just to drown those snores out. Another interesting talk with his parents ensued afterward.

Sometimes Teri caught Latata doing this weird thing where he starting humming out of nowhere. After the first couple of times seeing him do this, Teri saw that it was deliberate. Latata's humming was awful-sounding and off-key, and Teri had his hands over his ears for quite a while afterward, but couldn't help but wonder why he did that… why he wanted to hum, even when he couldn't hear himself. It was probably just Latata being Latata and making annoying sounds.

Was the guy irritating? Yes. Was Teri completely weirded out that this was a sign aliens existed? Completely. He was still shocked and confused, though he hid it well from the blue Keronian. But he knew that Latata had to stay under his jurisdiction, even if he didn't take him quite seriously, because who knew what could happen if he ever joined up with his platoon.

Was the rest of his platoon any more dangerous, though?—that was the question. Teri seriously doubted it, although even he knew that this might turn into a threat if it wasn't looked into. There was only one thing to do, in that case. He needed to use Latata to find the rest of the aliens.


	10. The Junior Pekopon Protection League

**A/N: Today while I was outside, I spotted tiny blue flowers everywhere. It's definitely forget-me-not season. Unfortunately, that means it's also skunk cabbage season. Quite a pretty flower but... so gross-smelling.**

**Well, that's my pointless info for you today.**

* * *

First few days of keeping an alien in secret and Teri was already sick of it.

If he had once thought younger siblings could be annoying, he realized now that they were little angels compared to what Latata was. For someone who could not hear, that Keronian was extremely loud at everything he did. Teri had to make a huge effort just to get him to shut up.

It didn't help that Latata was a curious little thing, either. He was only curious enough to get into trouble, as it seemed—like seeing how a primitive Pekoponian TV worked by turning it on (at full volume)—or taking frequent peeks through Teri's notebook to keep himself updated on Teri's odd and embarrassing young love life with his tutor—or deciding that he would see how sufficient his Pekoponian captor was in Pekoponian "Junior High," by situating himself in Teri's backpack, little to the boy's knowledge, and playing stowaway. The short-term results of this test were no, not very sufficient, hence the need for a tutor. The long-term results were many silent fights between the two of them.

It was hard enough keeping anyone from seeing Latata, like Teri's family, or his school, and especially Hope. Luckily, after a long and ambiguous explanation to her, he managed to get her to agree to meet him after school _at_ the school for tutoring, instead of over at his house. (Much thanks to Latata for Teri making a fool out of himself in front of her 99% more by acting weird to keep Latata's secret.) Dealing with the alien himself was a totally different thing.

One day—it was a Saturday, and the days were just beginning to get a little colder—Teri came up to Latata and plopped a bag down in front of his face.

"All right, Latata. Today's the day you've been waiting for—we're gonna look for the rest of your platoon for you," he said to him.

Latata stared blankly into his face.

"Oh. Right." Teri took out a notebook—one separate from the one with which he used for himself—this one was exclusively for conversing with Latata, since Teri couldn't speak any Keronian Sign Language and Latata was deaf. He wrote down the day's plan, then held it in front of Latata's face.

The blue Keronian rubbed his chin as he read the message, grinned with excitement, and then scribbled out a response underneath. _You are not kidding me? Frog have mercy! This is superb! Now I'll finally get out of this house! No more secrecy, no more hiding from your family, no enduring your annoyance, no more having to clean your room for you, no more eating that awful food you feed me, no more having to sleep in your closet, no more using your backpack for combat practice, no more accidentally reading your long, long paragraphs in your notebook about that Hope person you've always been talking about, no more_—

Teri took the notebook out of his hands suddenly and snapped it shut, giving him a stern look in the eye. While Latata shivered, he tossed the notebook and pen to him, then gathered up his bag and tied it shut.

Briefly, he wondered if he should feel bad for lying to Latata. The guy just wanted to find where the rest of his platoon went, that was all. But Teri knew that invading the planet wasn't in the least bit okay, and that was something that Latata ought to learn—even if Teri had to teach him the hard way, by pretending that he was going to help him look for his platoon when he was ACTUALLY using Latata to… look for his platoon.

The only twist—what Latata _didn't_ know—was that in the bag Teri had just tied shut were all the alien-unfriendly essentials to capturing the next Keronian he found. Nets. Rope. Large sheets of cloth. Tranquilizers. Pepper spray. Firearms. He was actually rather surprised about all the things he happened to find in the storage room under the stairs, as well as in the fridge.

"And you, Latata"—In front of the Keronian he dropped another sack.—"are going to be riding in _here_."

Before explaining in written words, Teri picked up Latata and placed him into the burlap sack, which he slung over his shoulder. As Latata popped his head out from the sack, Teri grabbed his notebook to explain to him the vitality of keeping low.

_Remember. Your invisibility badge-thing is broken, right? That's how I was able to see you,_ he wrote. _You want to make sure that no one else does, though._

_Why not?_ Latata wrote as a response.

_If other humans saw an alien, they'd go into a panic._

_That's what we want, though._

_No. No, it is not. That's not what I want. And haven't I been the one to give you a place to stay this last week? So you've got to do everything that I say._

_How old are you, Pekoponian?_ asked Latata.

_Thirteen, why?_

_You act like such a child._

_You're the one who acts like a child, Latata. Now get back in the sack and get ready to catch your notebook because I'm tossing it in with you._

Satisfyingly, Latata ducked his head back into the sack. Teri popped the notebook in and fastened it closed before heading to the front door with the other bag in his hand and putting his shoes on.

"I'm heading out!" he called.

Somewhere in another room, his mother called back. "Why?"

"Nature walk, Mom. I'll be back sometime around noon or so; no worries!"

He was just about to head out the door when the certain gaze of a blonde eight-year-old caught him in his tracks.

"Girara." He looked at his sister. "Need something?"

She was staring up at him, her arms crossed over her chest. "I know that you're hiding something, Nii-chan."

Teri gave an inconspicuous look off to the side and slowly opened the door.

Girara stepped forward. "You have to show me what you're hiding!"

Her brother was already gone from the house, the door shutting swiftly behind him.

"Urg." Girara pouted and stomped her foot down. Why did he have to be so disagreeable with her?

Well—at least he couldn't keep _everything_ from her. He thought he was all that. But he wasn't. Because as much as it would shock him to believe it, Girara had a secret of her own. One that her brother Teri couldn't ever hope to compare to.

She grinned devilishly.

After telling her mom that she was going out to play, as well, and after putting a jacket on, Girara headed out on her own. The route she took was a familiar one to her—all the way down the block, take a right, head down the next street, mosey in between those two buildings, dash across the sidewalk, enter the trees, look for the one with the funny knot in the center, give it a twist, push on the door that appears, and step right inside to her own secret hideout.

She entered the room and shut the door behind her, smiling a bit brighter, as was usual, when her favorite place to be came into view. The room was much larger on the inside than the trunk of the tree should have been, much thanks to alien technology that assisted with that. From the ceiling dangled assorted lights and whatnot to decorate the room; on the walls, pictures and posters were on display, as well as news clippings or shots of certain important events. In the corner was a shelf stashed with weaponry, both modern and traditional. At the front of their hideout, Girara spotted two of her friends, who she bounded up to.

"Hey, Oblivion-kun! Whatcha doin'…." She poked over their shoulders to see a bright screen that showed a large open space of crater on the ground, completely surrounded by broken trees.

"The trajectory of the falling spacecraft points to this location as its landing spot, and the environment certainly points to that as well, though my satellite photographs don't show any sort of ship here…."

"I have no idea what you just said, but cool!" Girara put in. "Looks like something crashed there."

"That's what happened, actually." The boy in front of the screen, a kid her age, turned to Girara. "You just came here, but I was telling Neroko-san about it."

"It's probably aliens again!" Neroko chirped as she turned to Girara excitedly. In doing this, she accidentally whacked the boy beside her with her pigtails.

"Ow! Neroko-san, that hurt…." He rubbed his sore cheek.

"Sorry!" She turned back to him to apologize, whacking him yet again. "Ah! Sorry!"

Girara giggled.

"Um… so…" Neroko pointed her finger at the blonde. "…what's new with you, Girara-chan! Speaking of stuff to talk about, let's talk about summer camp that you totally missed out on!"

Girara groaned, a bit irritated, and frowned at her.

"It was _so_ fun! You totally should have come!"

"I was sick," she insisted. "Daddy wouldn't let me. And it was a really bad sickness, too. I was coughing and sneezing so much!"

"Welcome to my world every single day," said Oblivion as he blew his nose on a tissue.

"Ohhh, is _that_ why you sound so stuffed up and groggy," said Neroko.

Girara put her finger to her chin. "Maybe… _I_ caught what _you_ had last week."

"Shh… don't tell Kohizou-kun that you got sick. Or else he's gonna wig out."

"Eh?" Girara looked around. "Where is Kohizou-kun, anyway?"

"Probably saving a puppy, as usual or something," came the monotonous voice between them.

"Nah, I'm sure he isn't," said Neroko dismissively.

From behind them, something swooped down from the shadows.

"Hey, guys! Am I late?"

The boy entered the light and took off the mask that covered the skin around his soft, blue eyes. He gave his short, black hair a toss to fix it up since he was too lazy to use his hands to do so. To the others, it was a stunningly perfect hair-flip.

"Kohizou-kun!" Neroko dashed behind him and jumped onto his back, earning a terrified yelp from the boy as he fell helplessly to the ground.

"Ahh! Don't kill him just yet!" Oblivion protested. His tone was unexcited and he wasn't even looking at Kohizou.

"That's a not very nice thing to say," said Girara critically. "So where were you, Kohizou-kun?"

"Well." Kohizou stood up (after finally wrestling Neroko off of him) with a proud smile. "I was saving a puppy, as usual."

Facepalmage ensued amongst the other three.

"So, guys, what's the problem today?"

They all turned to Oblivion, who was more up-to-date on these sorts of things.

"Well… uh… no problem, really." He gestured to the screen behind him. "We just found out that some more aliens are on Pekopon now, that's all."

"Oh, yeah." Kohizou nodded. "I knew that."

"What should we do?" asked Girara.

"Probably nothing." Oblivion pushed up his glasses as they slid down his nose from having looked downward. "If they're invaders, the Pekopon Protection League can easily take care of it. No threat there."

"They're invaders? What? No! But Nii-chan's got to invade first!" Neroko protested.

"I said _if_ they are invaders, Neroko-san," he reminded her. "Besides, we have no idea of the whereabouts of the new visitors at the moment. Nor where their spaceship even went. Obviously they aren't just using their anti-barrier on the ship, or else we'd be able to see it."

"I think we should find them instead," said Girara.

Kohizou turned to her. "You really think so?"

She nodded, clutching her hand at her chest. "I don't think that we should leave this up to the Pekopon Protection League."

"Yeah, they're stealing all the glory," Neroko added.

"Um… the PPL is rather experienced in this field…."

"I think we should take care of this ourselves. As a Junior Pekopon Protection League, we need to do more stuff with aliens, too." Girara reached into her pocket and took out a badge, her own copy of the ones they had all made together a while back. "Right?"

There were frowns in the room.

"Nng, but I can't always be here…."

"Yeah, and how can I protect the planet _and_ help Nii-chan invade?"

Kohizou was the only one who smiled at her idea. "I think that's a great idea, Girara-san! We should protect the planet by taking things into our own hands."

"Hah! See? _Kohizou-kun_'s with me on this."

"Which is why I would like to tell you all something right now." Kohizou made a gesture with his hand, gathering the four of them into a small huddle. He began to whisper.

"Eh? Already?" Girara gasped.

"Can I come along?" asked Neroko. "I'm just saying, as an alien myself I could probably talk to him or someth—"

Kohizou gave her a hard glare. "No. No, you cannot, Neroko-san. Remember the last time you got me to bring you along to one of these things?"

"Oh yeah…." She thought back to all the police reports that were made.

"I can't help predict that your idea sounds rather risky…."

"Well, not to me it doesn't, but anyway, we'll have to see how it goes," said Kohizou. They did have to admit that he looked rather confident.

"Wow, I bet you're gonna be really cool!" Girara told him, earning her a frown from her other male friend.

"Hehe…." Kohizou scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well… not as cool as some people fighting aliens. Your brother namely."

Girara made a grunt and sat down against a wall. "I dunno, Kohizou-kun…. Nii-chan's not been very cool lately."

"Nnh? What do you mean by that, now?"

"He's been acting weird. Really weird."

"Girara-chan, your brother's _always_ acted weird," Oblivion pointed out. "I mean, when I came over to your house last week he barely even recognized me."

Girara brought her knees up to her chest. "Yeah… he's no fun anymore. Half the time I don't even know what he's talking about."

"Kind of like with Neroko-san," Kohizou realized.

"What? I hate you, Kohizou-kun!"

"Ahh! Don't hit me!"

She charged after him anyway.

"Maybe you just need to talk to him or something," suggested Oblivion.

Girara looked up at him. "You think I should? What if he doesn't wanna talk to me?"

"I dunno. Give him puppy dog eyes. Ought to work."

"How do I do that? Can you tell me please?" she asked him with puppy dog eyes.

He sweatdropped. "I… think you've got nothing to worry about."

"Great!" Girara did a fist-pump. "Now I'll finally know all of Nii-chan's secrets!"

Meanwhile, Teri sneezed.

* * *

**A/N: I chose the name "Pekopon Protection League" solely because it can be abbreviated as "PPL," which sounds like "people" in text-speak. ****My awesome reasoning.**

**And yes, it is a spoof, if you can remember where else you might have seen a bunch of kids joining together and making a junior league of something with badges.**


	11. Pirate and Ninja

**A/N: Oh geez I almost forgot to update today DX**

**This is actually what nine-year-olds do in the wild, I swear.**

* * *

The Junior Pekopon Protection League was a secret organization that had been started by the four kids only a year ago, when they were still just seven and eight. It had been a fun concept at first, save for the fact that they didn't really do anything other than occasional investigation and capturing of an alien, which they always had to later hand off to the _actual_ Pekopon Protection League, located in the Nishizawa estates. So while their Junior PPL had been helpful, they decided it was about time to start doing stuff on their own.

Precisely why Kohizou hadn't told another soul, besides the ones of his three friends, about what he was going to do and where he was heading.

It was the middle of the forest, located just off of Middle Tokyo's gradually diminishing buildings. Kohizou had his mask back on to conceal his identity as he waited there. After a couple of minutes of the peaceful forest silence, he sat on the ground with his knees out, his sword laying in his lap. He shut his eyes and breathed in the air of late summer. A leaf fell just by his elbow.

His eyes opened. The presence was behind him, although it hadn't made a sound upon walking up. Kohizou stood up, his small sword still in his hand.

"Ah, so you already know that I'm behind you," spoke a gruff voice.

"If you were thinking of doing anything nasty, it's not going to work."

He heard a glint of metal. "You're quick to judge, boy."

"I hope you're pretty quick, too. Shall we begin?"

"I think we shall."

Instantly, Kohizou whipped around to face his opponent. The alien was old-looking and battered; not quite feeble, but more of in an intimidating manner. His skin took on violet shades, apart from the occasional reddish or pink scar. On his head, a tricorne hat; in his hand, a sharp cutlass blade.

Kohizou was not frightened. Swiftly, he brought his sword up, his forearm guarding his face, and watched as his opponent flicked the cutlass out at his side. They made eye contact for a brief moment. At once, the alien charged at him with his shoulder leading the way as he swung his cutlass through the air. Kohizou vanished; suddenly, he was behind him.

Luckily, the alien's instincts were sharp. He swerved around and drove the cutlass at the boy, but Kohizou swiftly brought his sword up to guard himself. The two blades met and clashed together in an awful sound of metal meeting metal.

The alien reached his hand down and brought out another cutlass, surprising Kohizou. He hadn't expected for the alien to have two of them. This would be more difficult than he expected… he would have to retreat momentarily. Kohizou jumped backward, darting into the safety of the trees, where his opponent could not detect him.

For a nine-year-old, he was quite skilled in combat, and he enjoyed it, too. Lessons in karate and kendo paid off, as well as his other rigorous secret training that he partook in. Society was still in need of his kind. The entire planet was.

There was always backup. Feeling around in a secret pocket in one of his front cloths, Kohizou picked out an assortment of extra weapons. All of a sudden, his alien opponent found numerous kunai knives headed his way, and began to dodge them from all directions. The boy was fast, indeed. Almost as fast as himself, he had to admit. But not enough.

The alien was quite skilled in using two swords. With his double cutlasses, there was no need of a shield. He simply just brought both swords in front of his face, crossed them, and was able to deflect all the kunai knives that were heading toward him at a mad speed. Eventually he kept only one guarding himself, while he used the other sword to cut through the forestage in search of Kohizou.

"Ah! Don't do that!" he shouted from somewhere nearby. Kohizou instantly covered his mouth, realizing the stupid mistake he'd just made. He stopped throwing knives and darted away to reappear behind the alien.

As he turned around and swung his cutlass at him, Kohizou managed to duck before it swept his head clean off. His opponent, becoming irritated, whipped out a pistol and aimed it at him. A beam of steaming light shot out, which Kohizou deflected with the thin blade of his own sword. The beam instead shot upward into the sky—neither fighter took his eyes off the other.

"You're good, kid," the alien complimented. He charged at him with the cutlass; Kohizou managed to keep him at bay with the side of the sword he had.

Kohizou smirked and pushed the cutlass of him with the blade, creating sparks. "I practice."

"So do I. Years and years of it."

"You're at a disadvantage, though."

The alien charged at him again, though Kohizou dodged him by quickly stepping back.

"Why do you say that, now?" He threw a grenade at him, which the boy jumped away from.

"The patch over your eye. You have to rely on just the other because of it."

"You wear a mask on your face. Is that any different?"

"At least I can see through mine," Kohizou pointed out.

"You think that a man can't fight with both his eyes? We'll see about that."

"I just think we should make it even, that's all." The voice had come from his left; however, Kohizou was suddenly at his right side. He grabbed the cloth over the alien's eye and tore it off quickly.

For just a moment, an expression of uncertainty flickered across Kohizou's face. His opponent used these few seconds of weakness to do the same to him, grabbing at the cloth by his eyes and stripping it off. And they stared at each other.

"Y-you unmasked me…. Not like I usually wear a mask, anyway, but still…."

The alien bent down on the ground and picked up the piece of cloth, fastening it back over his right eye. "I cannot fight you anymore that you have seen that."

"So, I win?"

He tossed both cutlasses at the ground. "Draw."

"Aw…."

"I'm not here to pick fights with children."

Kohizou gave him disappointed eyes. "It's because I haven't practiced enough, isn't it?"

"N-no! I just can't waste any time in my mission, that's all."

"Then why _did_ you agree to fight me?"

The alien didn't answer, of course. He sat down on a log as tried to retrace where he could have went wrong. He had only been attacking a Pekoponian creature at first—just some furry mammal with a large tongue and nose—when that boy dropped out of nowhere and demanded that he fight _him_ instead if he was really looking for someone to duel. He, of course, had agreed.—Why back down from a fight?

There was just one thing he was confused about. _Why is it that Pekoponian children are so strong?_ he wondered. _Headquarters did not notify me of this fact. Nor did they even warn us that our anti-barriers do not even work on the Pekoponian children._

"What is your name, mister?" Kohizou asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

_Should I tell him?_ he wondered. _I suppose we have fought now, so I must have to…._ "I am Staff Sergeant Zurere, the leader of the Zurere Platoon."

"Oh. I'm Kohizou." He held out his hand. Zurere did not shake it. "So, Mister Zurere…."

He looked up at him. "What is it?"

"You don't happen to belong to the ship that crashed, do you?"

His pupils shrunk. How did this boy know about that…?

"Because, uh…." Kohizou twiddled his index fingers. "It's sort of gone now, so…."

"_WHAT_?"

He had his cutlass again; it was pointed at Kohizou's throat.

"Answer me, Pekoponian boy. Where is our ship?"

"I—I don't know. Really." Kohizou gently pushed the edge of the cutlass out of the way of his neck. "Now that I've told you about your ship, will you tell me why you're on Pekopon?"

Growling, the alien slipped the cutlass back into his belt. "It's the mission that Keron sent me to do. Invade Pekopon."

"Oh." Kohizou's expression did not change. "Well, I'm part of the Junior Pekopon Protection League, and I'm going to protect Pekopon. So I can't let you invade."

"What?"

"You don't have your platoon, right, Mister Zurere? So you can't invade without their help. I'll just have to make sure you don't join up with them again."

"…_Wha_—"

Before Zurere could finish the word, Kohizou had already pressed his fingers together in a hand signal. A _poof_ of smoke surrounded the alien and when he looked down, he was tied in rope.

"I'm sorry. But we really _can't_ let you invade."

"You're making a mistake, boy." Zurere narrowed his eye at him as Kohizou began to carry him off. "I would have let you go, but now you've just made enemies with the most fearsome Keronian space pirate ever to set foot in your galaxy."

* * *

Zurere was certain that he would be able to escape, he just needed to think of _how_…. From the inside of what he could only assume was the Pekoponian Kohizou's prison cell for him, he saw that all doors were virtually nonexistent, his hands were tied to the wall, and the windows were foolishly let open, though he had no hope of reaching them since Kohizou had confiscated all his weaponry and he was still sort of tied up…. Odlly, even though the trap was dreafully primitive, it worked efficiently enough.

He only had one last defense. He would need to call for backup to save him from this humiliating entrapment. Lifting his leg, Zurere touched his toe to the top edge of his other boot and pushed at it until it slipped off. He turned it over so that the buckle was facing upward; not a buckle, but actually a secret communicator. Which his foot, he quickly entered a command.

There were two past audio messages on it sent from earlier that day, and two electronic ones. Zurere pressed a button with his foot and waited as the audio filled his ears. They were static-y, but still audible.

_Senior Private Dokiki reporting to Staff Sergeant Zurere…_ went the first message. _The ship has completely vanished. If you will allow me, I must halt scouting momentarily to investigate where it has gone. This is quite concerning._ The message was sent just the other day. Quite frightening indeed.

Frowning, he considered her message of urgency. Yes, it _was_ concerning that their ship vanished. Without the ship, they would be unable to contact each other again and rejoin.

The next message was much more assuring, however. _New Recruit Pulala reporting to Staff Sergeant Zurere…._ Pulala had been speaking in a quiet voice when it had been recorded._ The infiltration mission is going smoothly; I should be in the control center of the NPG in no time. Also, I would like to request some background information on the PPL. I have caught wind of it and it may hinder the mission._ That message was from five days ago.

He tapped the communicator again with his foot, searching for another audio message, but there was none. He growled. Of course there wasn't. One of his members could not press a button to save his life; the other one could not record an audio message for reasons which he could not help. Instead, he entered the command that would show him the visual message, and craned his neck to read it.

_Private First Class Latata here! Hey, Zurere, my man. I just got captured by a Pekoponian and I don't know how to escape from him because Dokiki didn't give me any weapons. All I have is this communicator that's kind of useless because everyone's ignoring my messages to them and I don't know why. Think you could help me out maybe? Thanks! Because I know how reliable my captain is that he would never get kidnapped by a Pekoponian like I just did!_ The message was from about a week ago.

Zurere grimaced, his face twisting into angered expressions. Latata, oh, Latata. There was no part of Zurere that found surprise in the Private's early discovery by the Pekoponians. But wait—there was another of Latata's messages. He read that one, as well.

_Private First Class Latata again! So guess what? The Pekoponian who captured me said we were going to go out and look for you guys today! How nice! So you'd better send me a message of your location, because I have no idea! You guys didn't leave me, did you? But we're going to look around the ship first to find you guys, if you're still there. So just tell everyone to go to the ship so I can find you guys again! I really hate living with this guy! Thanks. Oh, by the way, how much food do we have in the ship's fridge? I'm STARVING right now!_

That message had been sent that morning. It was late evening now. Amidst Latata's ramblings, Zurere realized with shock what he had been saying. Latata had went out to search for Zurere and the others that morning. He probably didn't find the ship like he thought he would.

_I can't really rely on LATATA to find me, now, can I…?_ Zurere wondered briefly, until he realized dismissively, no. Definitely not.

With his other leg, he slipped his other boot off and tried to use his foot to activate the response communicator. He moved his foot away when he saw that the screen had cracked completely. It must have broken during his fight with the Pekoponian Kohizou. Not like he would have been able to type a response to Latata, anyway, since he had no toes to do so.

It was hopeless, then… unless he chose to hope that Latata would be able to get the message on his own, perhaps along with that Pekoponian he was with. It was risky but it was all he had.


	12. The Twelfth Chapter

**A/N: What are you saying I'm so creative with chapter titles I mean can't you see.**

* * *

Among the many sounds that accumulated in the room, the teacher's voice was the most prominent of them.

Teri heard none of this. He was asleep at his desk, his head filled with dreams completely unrelated to his classroom setting, as dreams usually are. The teacher made his way to Teri's desk and waited for him to awaken. As an incentive for the boy, he rolled up a small stack of papers and gently slapped them against the palm of his hand. The message was clear: Wake up or else. We've got a class goin' on here.

"Hinata-san."

Teri continued to snore.

"_Hinata-san_." The teacher's tone became harsher. The students around him, save for the sleeping Teri, began to step back with concerned expressions. They knew how scary their teacher could become.

"_Hinata-san_!" he finally shouted.

Teri jerked upright in his seat. "What! I'm here. Present."

The teacher just used the curled-up stack of papers to groan and cover his face briefly. Teri looked around himself, then at the clock, and turned red-faced.

"What's the excuse this time, Hinata-san?" asked the teacher lethargically.

"Uh…." Teri, in his sleepy state, took the questions seriously and began to search his mind for an excuse. Just having woken up and all, he didn't really have any good ones at the top of his head. There was no way, of course, that he was going to tell his teacher that he had been out all day with a deaf frog-like creature, searching for alien invaders so he could capture them and put this whole mess aside—and that when he had come home, it was already late at night, his parents hadn't come home yet, and Girara was spending the night at her friend's house, so Latata took the opportunity to wreak some havoc so he could wash the stress of the day off himself, and Teri had to spend half the night calming the Keronian down while trying to get him to understand the importance of laying low in Teri's house.

In fact, although searching for the rest of the aliens was part of what happened, it did not end in the way he had expected. They _had_ searched for the rest of Latata's platoon—venturing first to the area where Latata told him their ship had crashed. Surprisingly, it was awfully nearby the area that Teri's summer camp had been in. But they saw nothing; the ship was nowhere to be found. They spent hours thinking up possibilities of what could have happened to the massive contraption; it was unlikely that its disappearance owed to one of those "anti-barriers," since they didn't work on Pekoponians, and Latata would have been able to still see it and feel it. Latata's platoon certainly wouldn't have taken off without him… and obviously someone couldn't have just carried it off.

Already a minute had passed, and the teacher was still waiting for an answer. Teri guiltily hung his head. "I—I'm sorry, Sensei." He heard some other students pass a giggle, and his face turned slightly pink.

"We already have enough students sleeping in class as it is, Hinata-san," the teacher informed him. "Not you, too, all right?"

His teacher walked past, letting him off easy, but Teri's eyes went immediately to the girl a few desks in front of him who was still sleeping. With her whitish—or was it purplish? He wasn't quite sure what color to call it—twin-tails scattered about her shoulders, it was unmistakably Hope. Their teacher had long since stopped trying to wake the girl up from her ritualistic naps at whatever random time she pleased.

_Not like she needs to pay attention half the time, anyway,_ thought Teri as he laid his cheek against his hand, gazing at her still. _She's really smart already._ Not that he was jealous; in fact, a part of him felt oddly proud. …She was such an angel when she slept.

Teri did not have to have his eyes closed to be dreaming.

The only difference was that, this time, his wakeup call was the sentient backpack that moved up against his leg.

He jolted again. That was weird. No, it couldn't have just been his backpack that—

The backpack nudged his leg again.

Frowning, Teri lifted the bag onto his desk. He didn't want to think of what this could have meant. There was only one way to test. In the most painful and slow manner, he ground his knuckles into the sides of his backpack, and felt a low groan emit from it.

He quickly turned nervous. Bad idea—what if someone else had heard that? But his worry had been confirmed. Angrily, he dragged the heavy backpack off his desk and threw it underneath, not forgetting to kick it out of the way of his feet. More groans. Yup. Latata had definitely stowed away in his bag again. Thoughts of Hope were painstakingly put aside for a moment while Teri thought about what to do.

This was definitely not the first time Latata had stowed away in his bag. Teri thought back to the other times. It had been hectic and quite humiliating for him, since he had to find some way to keep Latata out of everyone's sight while at the same time maintaining his front as a dutiful student. It was a lot more difficult than it sounded.

At the moment, Latata was awfully restful. Maybe he was sleeping, too. Yeah, maybe _everyone_ was just asleep today; maybe that was it. But in the back of his mind, Teri doubted it. But as long as he didn't do anything stupid or outgoing, then there was really nothing to worry about—

Just then, Latata did something stupid and outgoing.

The backpack he had entrapped himself in was rather stuffy and uncomfortable, so he decided that it was time to get some fresh air by reaching his arm out of the crook of the bag and stepping right out.

"Aah!" Teri quickly stood up and tossed his jacket over Latata, in time, luckily. But the entire class had turned to him, watching as he began to pale. _Oh no oh no oh no oh no this can't seriously be happening,_ he internally screamed.

"Hinata-san." The teacher stood at the electronic board in front of the classroom with a corresponding pen in his hand. He frowned. "Please take your seat so I may resume the lesson."

"Haha, sorry, right…." Teri gave a nervous smile and sat back down. "I was just… my… books spilled out and I was picking them… yeah."

He shot Latata a glare and hastily shoved him back inside the bag.

Teri's heart pounded against his chest in fear. He was pretty sure he had tossed that jacket over Latata early enough, but what if someone had seen the Keronian when he came out? Then everyone would suddenly know about aliens…. That, or they would think that Teri was a weirdo for keeping strange pets in his backpack. Then he'd probably get a visit to the principal's office, and then they would either confiscate Latata or contact his parents… both of whom he _really_ didn't want to know about the whole fiasco. They got scary when they were angry, and he was pretty sure that hanging out with an alien invader was definitely under their list of things that he shouldn't do. And then of course, things between his friends like Yaoe and Sosuke would get awkward because they'd want to know why Teri found out about the existence of aliens and didn't tell them.

Not particularly anything he was all that keen on going through.

Something nudged Teri's foot. He resisted the urge to look down, but finally, he gave in. It was a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he saw that a small message was scribbled on it that was unquestionable Latata handwriting.

_You've got to clean out your backpack, man,_ read the note. Teri frowned and crumpled it up.

Another note came. _So where's the girl that you like? You know, the one who tutors you? Is she in this class?_

And then another. _Don't worry, Teri, I'm sure I could set you two up together! I could be a perfect cupid, acting as an invisible force that just attracts the two of you together, just like gravity did with our ship to Pekoponian ground!_

Teri kicked him so that he would stop passing notes. And then he passed a note to Latata himself.

_Or the attraction of my foot to your face._

Latata tossed another note at him. _Do not kick me! Don't you know it's going to look weird if you keep kicking your backpack?_

Teri scribbled down another note. _What are you talking about? I just really, really like to kick my backpack._ He dropped the note, expecting to hear the folded paper fall to the ground. But he didn't. Instead he felt a warm presence nearby him….

It was the teacher.

Teri paled.

The whole class was staring at him now. With a very serious look on his face, the teacher calmly unfolded the note in his hand that Teri had written. Teri swore that his ears shattered when the teacher read it out loud.

" 'What are you talking about? I just really, really like to kick my backpack.' "

He turned to Teri, looking down at him from above the rim of his glasses, and gave a slow nod. Rather absentmindedly, Teri began to nod along with him. Then he shook his head.

"No? You don't like to kick backpacks?" asked the teacher with a hint of a smile.

"No, I do not, sir. I don't like to kick backpacks."

The teacher gestured to Teri's bag under his desk. "Well, then, you'd better tell that to your backpack, because the poor thing looks terrified."

Teri didn't understand what the teacher meant until he _did_ look at his backpack—and realize, with horror, that it was trembling in fright.

* * *

"Kicking backpacks… augh…. I can't believe that actually happened…" Teri muttered to himself in distress. One thing he could be glad for that day was that Hope had been asleep. So unless one of his devilish friends like Yaoe or Sosuke filled her in on the humiliating scene, _she_ would never have to know what transpired.

It was the end of the school day and he was walking home with Latata still in the bag on his back. It wasn't that hard carrying the guy. Surprisingly, he was heavier than Hope was when he had carried her. But maybe it was just an alien thing.

When he came to the edge of the block, he took a right. The elementary school that his little sister went to was just a little ways away and he had to pick her up from school himself, since his parents weren't at home. In fact, his next stop after the elementary school was his parents' workplace. It was a long distance away, though, which was why Teri and Girara had left their bikes by her school so they could get to their parents' workplace as soon as possible.

After much more walking, Girara's elementary school came into view, and Teri jogged up to it. The bell must have just rung since all the kids were being let out. Teri caught sight of his sister and walked to her.

"Hey, Girara." He stopped when she was beside him and walked with her down the stairs. "Do you have all your things? Your bike and everything?"

"Yeah." Girara was looking past him. She went up to her bike and began to unchain it from the bike rack.

"You seem… unusually quiet today."

"Yeah," she said again.

_Is it just me, or is she trying really hard not to look me in the eye?_ Teri wondered.

The kids around them were clearing out, and slowly the numbers dwindled until it was just the two of them. Girara had her hands on the handles of her bike, still looking away from her brother. Teri was just heading toward his own bike when his sister spoke.

"Hey… Nii-chan."

"Yeah?" he said back.

She looked up at him with the cutest puppy dog eyes. "Why have you been acting all weird?"

Teri blinked at her.

"Please please please please tell me?" She clasped her hands together.

"Uh…."

"Tell me all your secrets…" he heard her say in a more whispery voice.

"No thanks." Teri turned away from her and unchained his bike. His sister's puppy dog face turned to a disgruntled pout.

"You've been acting weird!" she reminded him.

"Says the kid who just asked me to tell her all my secrets." He couldn't help but laugh. His sister could be silly. …Sometimes too silly.

"Really weird." Her voice took on a more genuine tone, causing Teri to turn to her. Girara was looking at the ground now with a rather sad expression. Teri honestly didn't know what to say to cheer her up. He acted weird? When did that happen? He was pretty sure he didn't act weird. It was probably just Girara being _her_ usual weird self by thinking that _he_ acted weird.

_Or maybe she means…_ Teri blushed suddenly. Maybe this was about the Hope thing. He had no idea that had changed him so much, though…. This only caused him to blush more.

"Nii-chan, why does your face look all red?" Girara giggled. "You look like Daddy does. Ah!" She touched her fingertips to her chin. "Nii-chan, you're acting weird because of your girlfriend, aren't you?"

Teri frowned. "No."

"Ah, thaaaat's why!" She spun around in a circle. "Nii-chan's just soooo in love with his girlfriend that he's gone com-plete-ly crazy!"

"Ahhh! No! It's not like that!" Teri frantically waved his hands in front of himself. "Uh—looks like we're both ready to go get Mom and Dad. Come on." He hoisted her onto her bike, got onto his own, and started pedaling rapidly.

"Wait, Nii-chan! Wait up!"

* * *

The Nishizawa manor was pretty huge.

"Huge" was probably an understatement, though—with a surplus of butlers and highly-trained bodyguards in the most deadly arts of battle and self-defense, hundreds of square acres to bolster, an entire manor or two or maybe even three just for living and recreation, too many collections of the most recently-developed super-weapons not yet released to even the government of its own country, vast expanses of gardens and the most cultivated of farmlands, its own personal shopping center, and owned by the famed multi-trillionare head of the Nishizawa corporation who held more than half the entire world's economy—it went far beyond "huge."

And it was way too intimidating. Teri avoided the place when he could. Unfortunately, it was also the home of his bratty cousins… and one of his little sister's best friends… and the location of his parents' workplace. So he found that he had to go there actually quite often, an errand he had not learned to enjoy.

_I sure hope that Latata's buried deep in my backpack,_ thought Teri. _Wouldn't want him finding out that my cousins happen to be the only grandchildren of the richest man on Earth…._ In retrospect, that was a pretty overwhelming thought by itself, perhaps even more so than what the Keronian might do with that knowledge.

As they approached the gates to the Nishizawa manor, Teri and Girara brought their bikes to a halt and walked to the voice registration box. When the person behind the machine somewhere recognized them, they were let inside. The road to the actual doors of the mansion was long, but in a few minutes they finally made it inside after parking their bikes off to the side.

They had been to the residence many times before, Girara more so than her brother. Even still, both remembered the foyer vividly—the stone columns framing the doors… the recently polished marble floor… the velvet carpet stretching out before them, decorating by potted plants occasionally on the side… the priceless paintings displayed everywhere… a ceiling that stretched above their heads probably a hundred feet up… fountains set against the wall… the afternoon light beating through the giant windows….

But when they entered the gigantic building, they did not at all see the scene that they had expected. Instead, the stone columns had fallen. The marble floor that had always been so polished they could see their reflection when they looked down was now coated in the dirt from the potted plants, whose vases had shattered. The fountain water was murky with the same dirt. Some of the paintings had fallen, and some were torn right through. Through the ceiling was an enourmous, jagged hole, as if something had burst through. And the windows that let the light in were completely shattered. Bodyguards and butlers scurried about everywhere.

Teri picked up a piece of metal and turned it over in his hand. "There must have been some sort of accident," he speculated. This was definitely something he needed to record into his notebook when he got the chance. "It looks awful."

"Wooow," breathed Girara. "Everything's been blown up and destroyed. Cool."

Her brother frowned at her. "Girara, that's not what you're supposed to say when you see something absolutely devastating. Besides, we've got to look for mom and dad… and I sure hope they didn't get caught up in this—Oh! It's them!"

Teri rushed up, and Girara trailed after. Amidst the chaos were both his parents on the ground. His father was helping his mom pluck out some glass shards that had gotten stuck in her hair, presumably when the windows had shattered.

"Mom! Dad! Are you all right?" Teri asked with fright.

Girara looked around and pouted. "You didn't have fun without me, did you?"

"No…." Their dad shook his head. "We just ran into a bit of trouble, that's all. But the problem's been terminated and there's nothing to worry about anymore."

"You sure?" Teri's eyes wandered off to another spot in the foyer, where he spotted his cousin Himani being carried/dragged off by one of the butlers. Didn't look too much like _his_ problem was taken care of.

"Please, Master Himani… you must calm down," his butlers begged.

"But I was so close!" Himani shouted. His anguish-filled voice echoed through the large expanse of the mansion's entryway. "So, so, so, so close…. I will succeed next time! I swear on it!" In the corner of his eye, Teri barely caught sight a short, dark figure—around the same height as Latata—shrink behind one of the broken pillars.

If Himani was there, his sister must have been somewhere close by. It didn't take Teri long to spot her—he only had to turn to his right.

"I'm so sorry!" Hanayu bowed to his parents. "We didn't mean for this to happen…. It was really only supposed to be a little distraction from Himani's plots."

"You need to have a talk with that guy," Teri's dad advised her, "preferably before things turn out like _this_ again."

"Yeah…." She paused, curling a bit of her light blue hair as she looked off to the side. "…Oh! Teri-kun. I didn't see you there. And Girara-chan, too. Are you here for your mother and father?"

"Uh-huh!" Girara smiled.

"Haha, well, I'd better send you off then. Would you like a limo?"

"That's quite all right, but we'd rather—"

"I'll send a limo." Hanayu happily pushed some buttons on her cell phone. "Consider it my apology on behalf of Himani."

"Hanayu-chan, you were his accomplice…" Teri's mom hesitantly pointed out. "Most of the damage is thanks to you, in fact."

After a pause, Hanayu's eyes darted toward the shattered window. "Oh! Looks like the limo's here. Nice to see you all again! Hope you can come by soon!"

Teri looked at her quizzically. That was one fast limo. He shook his head, dismissing the thought. His cousins were weird. They were way too rich, all right, but willing to destroy parts of their own mansion for some weird, childish plot of theirs? At times like these he genuinely felt as though he could not understand a single thought that ran through Hanayu or Himani's heads.

After waving goodbye to Hanayu, Teri turned around and began to head off with the rest of his family. Since he had no eyes in the back of his head, he did not see when the top of his backpack popped open and Latata stealthily peered out. He did not see when Latata looked around the scene with surprise. And he definitely had no idea that Hanayu became quite suspicious after seeing two very Keronian eyes peer out from Teri's backpack.

* * *

**A/N: So what happened in the Nishizawa manor? What could Hanayu and Himani have done to destroy it all? And _why_? Who was the dark figure behind the pillar? All shall be revealed next chapter. (I'm actually telling the truth this time, yo.)**

**Also, um... any suggestions for better chapter titles, I'm gladly open to.**

**In another note, I know that I'm an amateur writer, and clearly I've got a lot to work on. (You may have... erm... noticed it in this chapter.) You can help me out by telling me what I can fix. Poor syntax? Poorly-phrased dialogue and sentences? Too little detail? Not enough sentence variation? Not enough specification? Boring characters? Boring events? Poorly-handled reactions? Too fast-paced? I'd love to know these things. I've edited this twice now, and after I finish the whole story later this summer I'm going to go back through the whole thing and edit it again. So you know what you can do. Help me out here to make sure this isn't sucking. XD 'Cause, I dunno, I may have too much confidence in my writing, but I'd love to hear some criticism.**

**One last thing. Himaru! I'm looking at you, buddy XD. When you ask a question in a review (though I'm not sure if you meant for it to be rhetorical or not), make sure you're logged in so I can reply to you. Also, if you want me to be able to reply to you, please enable Private Messaging on your account. Thanks :)**


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